TCF...was a struggling S&L before Bill Cooper took control...Politically speaking...the company is a straight-up high roller, and an avid fellow traveler of the Republican political machine.
To begin with, there is Cooper himself, who is the former chair of the state Republican Party, former board member of the Center of the American Experiment, and founder of a group called the Conservative Council, which has made a mission of purging Republicrats--i.e., moderate Republicans--from the party. Meanwhile, over the last three election cycles, Cooper and his wife Sharon have been among the party's more generous benefactors, doling out approximately $171,000 in contributions to assorted GOP candidates and causes.
More notable, however, is the overall giving pattern at TCF. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics, TCF has consistently ranked in the top 10 savings & loans nationwide in terms of overall political contributions. In 2002 and 2004, according to the Center, 100 percent of the TCF contributions went to Republicans; in 2000--an off year for company ideologues?--the figure was a mere 99 percent.
By way of comparison, the top 20 savings & loans were considerably more evenhanded in their giving patterns. In 2004, for instance, 53 percent of S&L contributions went to Republicans and 47 percent to Democrats. Among the top 10, TCF was the only organization to give exclusively to Republicans.