The other day, Hillary Clinton got into a bit of trouble with some people when she refused to promise not to take campaign donations from lobbyists. That got me to thinking -- just who is corporate America supporting in the 2008 race for the presidency?
I went to the Center for Responsive Politics website. On that site, they break down some of the major businesses in America, and show just how much they are giving to each of the candidates. The figures below show the giving from the following major businesses: Hedge Funds, Casinos/Gambling, Commercial Banks, Computers/Internet, Health Professionals, Insurance, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Real Estate, Securities & Investments, Telephone Utilities and Tobacco.
I fully expected the Republicans to be dominating in campaign giving from these corporate interests -- they usually do. But this is not a normal campaign season, and it looks like even corporate America can sense the political winds are blowing in favor of the Democrats. In fact, it is a Democrat that is leading in donations from these industries. Here are the figures for the top ten candidates receiving these donations (Democrats are in blue and Republicans are in red):
Clinton...............$9,047,271
Romney..............$8,966,172
Guiliani..............$8,742,120
Obama................$7,891,780
Dodd...................$4,858,899
McCain................$4,494,406
Edwards.............$2,034,586
Richardson.........$1,541,208
Biden..................$947,659
Paul.....................$236,212
A Democrat not only leads the pack, but Democrats hold six of the top 10 spots in corporate/business giving. The donations by party break down this way:
Democrats...........$26,321,403
Republicans.........$22,438,910
When we see this breakdown of corporate giving, it is easy to see how Democrats are outraising Republicans for the first time in many years. Business interests can see the Democratic backlash forming, after the terrible job Republicans have done for the last few years, and they don't want to be left out in the cold.
But while it's good to see the Democrats outraising the Republicans, I'm not entirely comfortable with the huge amounts some of the Democratic candidates are receiving from business interests.
When they pour that much money into a candidate's coffers, you know they are going to want something in return.
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