Pinching Political Party Purses
Both the Democratic and Republican parties are experiencing a unique form of financial comeuppance, as the economic recession they were in charge of preventing -- that has now caused a 8.4 percent national unemployment rate -- is causing a dramatic drop in the level of political party donations.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties are experiencing a unique form of financial comeuppance, as the economic recession they were in charge of preventing — that has now caused a 8.4 percent national unemployment rate — is causing a dramatic drop in the level of political party donations.
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In the wake of a recession, months of falling stock markets and a marathon campaign that endlessly taxed donors, political party committees find themselves racked by declining revenue and mounting debt.
Democrats have seen a dropoff in contributions from the frenetic small-dollar online donors who fueled President Obama’s campaign, while Republicans have seen a dramatic decline in activity from the kind of big-ticket donors who were loyal contributors to the Bush White House and its pro-business agenda. Combined donations from individuals to the six major party campaign committees have fallen by more than 26 percent from a similar period two years ago, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Strategists cautioned that the dropoff may be only a temporary fundraising hiccup caused by “donor fatigue,” but they worry that if the economy does not recover by early next year, their budgets for the 2010 campaign may have to be slashed.
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Growing unease over inquiries, allegations of misspending and executive shakeup has some rich members pulling back pledges and even suing.
Sanders' presidential campaign announced that it raised an eye-bugging $26 million in the third quarter -- essentially matching the $28 million raised during those three months by Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
In his weekly radio address, President Obama showed his dismay at the Supreme Court's decision to remove corporate campaign finance limits, warning of a pending deluge of special interest money into our democracy -- a subject he knows quite well as he continues to fight for health care reform.
You may have knocked on doors for Barack Obama, but it's possible you gave money to John McCain. GoodGuide has a tool that sorts donations by party, logo and industry. Tech companies seem to prefer Democrats while food companies love Republicans. The banks, of course, throw money at everybody.
It's not particularly surprising that oil executives at the Hess Corp. got a little excited when John McCain changed his position in June and called for offshore drilling, but it is interesting that the Hess brass, according to Talking Points Memo, apparently demonstrated their gratitude (cue cash register sound effect here) by writing some big checks to the McCain campaign.
In their mad race for money, the front-running Democratic presidential candidates might be selling themselves to the devil. That is, in words more familiar to political debate, they might be delivering themselves into the hands of rich and powerful opponents of progressive policies.
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