The Color Of Money

(CBS)  While recent studies and news organizations (including this one) herald the growing influence of minority voters, a new survey suggests their voice may not be as loud as we think.

Minorities still lag far behind in the political money race, according to a study funded by the Citizens Research Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Berkeley, Calif. Researchers say that African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods accounted for less than 2 percent of the contributions to the top four presidential candidates.

"Its not about poorer people not giving large amounts, its about certain groups of people either not giving money period, or not being asked to give money," says researcher Jon Gould, of George Mason University.

In the recent California primary, African-Americans made up 6 percent of the vote, while Hispanics accounted for 13 percent. But this study implies that those high numbers mask the smaller role minorities actually have in fueling presidential campaigns.

"Given that contributions buy access, this raises questions about just how much political influence minorities have," says Gould.

The study examined contributions to Bill Bradley, George W. Bush, Al Gore and John McCain in eight states, during the fourth quarter of 1999. Researchers matched contributor data with demographic information from the zip codes where the donors reside, and then compared contributions from high minority areas, high white areas and high income areas.

As one would expect, the study suggests that candidates collected the most money from white, affluent areas. On a per capita basis, the researchers concluded that candidates were 42 times more likely to raise money from the rich than from the poor. Republicans raised twice as much money from exclusively white neighborhoods as did Democrats.

The study also states that presidential candidates raised only 1.97 percent of their money from areas with large African-American populations and 2.2 percent from Hispanic areas. The researchers concluded those numbers are respectively 3 and 4.5 times lower than would be expected given the percentage of the population in those areas.

But the study also uncovered some notable surprises. Apparently African-Americans, who traditionally vote Democratic in large margins, may be giving more money to Republicans. In the time period studied, donors in largely African-American neighborhoods contributed more money to Bush than to either Gore or Bradley.

Yet the Republican frontrunner, who has been eagerly courting the Hispanic vote, may not be receiving a decent return from that group. Democrats raised twice as much in Hispanic neighborhoods as did Republicans.

The Citizens Research Foundation does not investigate the cause of the giving trends. One reason may be that campaigns don't aggressively solicit donations from minority groups. But the findings may also sigify something deeper. Minorities may not be asked to give, but they also may not be in the habit of giving.

Gould says that as individual groups begin gaining political clout, they make their mark first at the voting booth. Contributing to campaigns and in turn, influencing the process of selecting candidates is the next level. So far it hasn't happened yet, says Gould. "Its not part of their political culture."

Until then, minorities may suffer from a chicken-and-egg scenario - they aren't in the habit of giving, so they're not targeted by fundraisers. But Gould apparently thinks that will change. His next study for the Citizens Research Foundation will analyze the process of political fundraising.