Opinion: So many candidates, so much money
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
The first votes of the 2008 presidential campaign are still months away. But that doesn’t stop thousands of people from voting with their checkbooks.
And while, outside of Chicago anyway, you can only cast your actual ballot once, campaign donors can write checks to several candidates, even to some with competing agendas. The prevailing political wisdom is that Democrats are happier with their choice of candidates this time than are Republicans. And it seems from the numbers and interviews, at least this time, that perception is right on the money, so to speak.
A recent poll showed that while Hillary Clinton maintains her commanding lead over Barack Obama in the Democratic race, nearly a quarter of Republicans chose None of the Above as their candidate, being unwilling to pick anyone from the top tier.
It’s not just that Democrats have collectively raised far more money than Republicans during the first six months of 2007--$144.3 million to the GOP’s $101.7 million.
But an analysis of the new numbers by The Times’ Mark Barabak with help from Doug Smith finds that Democrats were much more likely than Republicans to give to more than one of their party’s White House hopefuls.
Judy Olmer was typical of those serial donors. ‘This year I feel pretty good about the choices I have,’ said Olmer, a retired government employee in Cabin John, Md. She gave a combined $2,850 to Gov. Bill Richardson, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. ‘There are three, four....
maybe five, any of whom I could see myself supporting in the end.’
Phillip Gaddy, an Albuquerque, N.M., trial attorney, gave $1,000 to Richardson and Edwards and, child-like, referred to the proverbial candy store of candidates. ‘I like them all,’ said Gaddy, who intends to donate to others. ‘You walk in and can’t decide because they all look so good.’
On the GOP side, Douglas Wilson reflected a more grudging attitude. The corporate executive from Laguna Beach contributed $4,600 to Mitt Romney and $2,300 to Rudy Giuliani. As for the rest of the field: ‘Nope,’ he said. ‘There are other candidates who have potential as vice presidents. But I think in terms of actually being president of the United States of America, I don’t see other candidates I would get really excited about.’
The number of multiple donors is not huge, relatively speaking, but the trend is clear. Nearly 3,300 Democratic donors, out of 87,000 tallied, and more than 1,100 Republicans, out of 52,000, gave to more than one candidate.
The multiple donors include businessman Warren Buffett; director Steven Spielberg, who gave to Obama, Clinton, Richardson and Edwards; and Playboy’s Hugh Hefner, who contributed to both Obama and Clinton.
‘I think (Clinton and Obama) are well qualified and the most likely candidates’ to win the nomination, Hefner told Barabak. Besides, he added, ‘They’re not white guys... and we haven’t done a very good job lately. It is time for a change.’
Overall, 1,350 people gave to both Democrats and Republicans, with backers of Giuliani more likely to give across party lines than backers of Clinton, Edwards and Obama.
--Andrew Malcolm