You Have the Power! (where this year's $ is coming from)

[ursacorwin]

funny how they don't say the word "internet." but we know, and damn it's good to hear that what i've been suspecting is coming true. under 200$ is a level the vast majority of us can do over the course of a year, and the bloggers and sites like DU are proving that the dems don't have to do more than ask. in politics, money is power.



http://www.campaignline.com/webedition/page.cfm?pageid=346&navid=51

Small Donors Fill the Soft Money Gap
Joe Hadfield , Jun 28, 2004

After deploying $212 million worth of soft money in the 2002 election cycle, party committees wondered what to do when Congress took their candy away through new campaign finance laws.

While some observers expected money to flow toward independent 527 groups, instead 2.5 million new hard-money donors, each contributing $200 or less, stepped forward to give to the parties and candidates combined.

Even without soft money, party committees have $60 million more in their budgets than they did at this point in the 2000 election.

“Clearly in this cycle, hard money is king,” Sheila Krumholz, research director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said.

Under current federal election laws, individuals can donate up to $200 and remain anonymous on a candidate or party committee’s books. The new law doubles the maximum amount individuals can contribute, but Anthony Corrado of the Brookings Institution says that accounts for only a part of the surge in party fund-raising.

“It’s really a story of small giving,” Corrado said. “Parties are adapting much more quickly than people thought.”

Peter Buttenweiser, a fund-raiser for Democratic candidates, said the new campaign finance system removes disproportionate influence given to large donors.

“Life is happier under the new law and I think people feel better,” Buttenweiser said. “There are fewer power dinners. By that I mean 16 big donors sitting down with a vice president or the president. Those are not fun.”

Individual hard-money donations to candidates and parties totaled $814.2 million for the first 15 months of the 2004 election cycle, up from $470.5 million at this point in 2000 and $329.9 million in 2002.

Some soft money is still finding its way into elections through so-called 527 groups, which currently do not face contribution limits for their election involvement. So far 527s have raised $183.9 million in soft money, considerably less than the $760.9 million in soft money at play at this point in 2002.

Dan Mattoon, former deputy chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he expects a greater infusion of soft money late in the game.

“In October, you will see that we are about to catch up,” Mattoon said. “Wealthy individuals will step up to the plate more and more.”