Small Dollars, Max Donors and the 2008 Field
by Adam B
Mon Apr 16, 2007 at 02:01:48 PM PDT
The Campaign Finance Institute has crunched the 2008 presidential numbers, and all the news is not-great for believers in small-dollar democracy:
While some of these candidates have boasted about their tens of thousands of small , $100 and under donors (including those mobilized through the internet), only $18 million of a total of $132 million in contributions to all the candidates came from $200 and under donations. Obama was tops in small donations ($5.8 million) but that amounted to only 22% of his total individual contributions. McCain was second at $2.5 million (19%}. On the other hand, Clinton raised only 9%, and Romney 6%, of their contributions from small donations.
Here's their chart of the Dem field:
| Candidate | Total Receipts | Net Indiv Contribs | % From Large Contribs ($1,000 or more) | % From Max+ Donors ($2,300 or more) | % From Small Contribs ($200 or less) | Cash on Hand |
| Clinton | 36.1 | 25.8 | 86% | 68% | 9% | 31.0 |
| Obama | 25.8 | 25.7 | 68% | 46% | 22% | 19.2 |
| Edwards | 14.0 | 14.0 | 77% | 38% | 15% | 10.7 |
| Dodd | 8.8 | 3.7 | 91% | 58% | 2% | 7.5 |
| Richardson | 6.2 | 6.2 | 80% | 56% | 10% | 5.0 |
| Biden | 4.0 | 2.1 | 88% | 48% | 4% | 2.8 |
| Kucinich | 0.4 | 0.4 | 19% | 6% | 68% | 0.2 |
| Gravel | 0.1 | 0.0 | 53% | 0% | 28% | 0.0 |
| Dem Subtotal | 95.4 | 78.0 | 78% | 53% | 14% | 76.4 |
For more data, including the parallel numbers for the Republican field, you can click on that initial link, or follow me to this PDF for more raw numbers. For instance:
| Candidate | Total Amount From Small Contribs ($200 or less) |
| Obama | $5,773,508 |
| McCain | $2,535,313 |
| Clinton | $2,269,482 |
| Edwards | $2,039,948 |
| Romney | $1,234,416 |
| Giuliani | $1,092,486 |
| Tancredo | $ 915,846 |
All other candidates were below Tancredo's figures in total amount from small-dollar donors.
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