In politics, the rise of small donors

[CShine]

When President Bush signed campaign-finance reform into law after the 2002 elections, the two major political parties held their breath. Would the new ban on "soft money" - those unregulated, unlimited donations from wealthy individuals, corporations, and organized labor - starve the parties of funds? Many thought the parties would lose control of their messages and voter outreach, as money increasingly flowed to outside groups.It's true that independent groups are happily taking in millions of soft dollars that the parties can no longer accept, deploying foot soldiers to canvass and register voters, and airing TV ads aimed at influencing opinion. But the parties, too, are flush with cash. They've ramped up their quest for limited "hard money" donations, and been greeted by a flood of cash from individuals. The donor rolls of the two major parties have swelled by 2-1/2 million people.

"Really, the story of this election is in some ways the power of the small donor," says Anthony Corrado, a campaign-finance expert at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. "We have really seen a democratization of the financing of elections in this cycle. When the law was passed, everyone was saying ... 'The parties will wither away and die. The interest groups will rule the world.' Well, if we look through the end of May, national party committees have raised $546 million in hard money."

The presidential race is also awash with money, fueled by individual donations. By the end of May, President Bush had raised more than $216 million and Democrat John Kerry had raised $147 million; last week alone, Senator Kerry raised $12 million. The Bush campaign has more than a million donors, compared with 345,000 in 2000. In the last election, Democratic nominee Al Gore had 155,000 donors. Last month, the Kerry campaign marked its millionth online donor. In the first four months of 2004, Democrats posted 35 million pieces of mail to potential donors, more than they did during the entire 1990s, according to Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as McCain-Feingold, the limit in hard money was increased: For individual donations to a federal candidate, it is now $2,000, up from $1,000. The limit on individual gifts to a party went from $20,000 to $25,000. But the new rules don't necessarily explain the burst of giving. It may be as much a matter of passion, with Bush partisans focused on keeping the White House and Congress in Republican hands, and Democrats equally motivated after the close and controversial outcome in 2000.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0628/p01s01-uspo.html

[hedda_foil]

1. Two words explain the whole phenomenon.

HOWARD DEAN.