Breaking Down The Money Race
Fake occupations like "lover"? Non-existent zip codes like "00000"? Imaginary people like "Doodad Pro"? Neither campaign appears to corner the market on odd entries from the donor files.
But with Obama receiving many more individual donations, a stunningly larger total (Obama's got more than $603 million to McCain's $358 million), and -depending who you ask - an impressive (or suspicious) month of record fundraising in September, some are trying to take a closer look at Obama's stats.
"He's been taking in a lot of money very rapidly," says Sheila Krumholz who heads up the Center for Responsive Politics. She says both campaigns need to do a better job at disclosure, but Obama stands alone in terms of sheer volume. "It's a concern that he's brought in so much money so rapidly because there have already been suspicions voiced about foreign donors, fake donors and donors giving excessive amounts of money."
Obama also has many small donors among his list of more than 600,000 "new" donors who gave last month, according to the campaign. Less than $200 each, under federal law, the campaign doesn't have to disclose names or details. John McCain has voluntarily put his small donor list online. McCain's list is far from perfect: in the past, donors have been listed as "anonymous," but it's more than Obama has been willing to do. CBS News asked the Obama campaign to show his list of less-than-$200 donors, but they refused.
"The fact that the obama camp has not provided more info about who these small donors are really runs counter to his transparency message," says Krumholz.
What about the big money donors? Both campaigns boast of many, but when it comes to the interests of those Wall Street firms caught up in the economic crisis, Obama often bests McCain.
Goldman Sachs interests:
Obama $743,371
McCain $220,045
Lehman Brothers interests:
Obama $391,624
McCain $115,707
Citigroup interests:
Obama $499,598
McCain $290,101
Morgan Stanley interests:
Obama $344,130
McCain $249,377
JPMorgan & Chase Co. interests:
Obama $478,462
McCain $210,992
For more on who's "bundling" for the candidates, which industries are top givers and all kinds of interesting campaign fundraising tidbits, visit the Center for Responsive Politics' site OpenSecrets.org.
