NPR: The Rise of the Small Donor in U.S. Politics

The Rise of the Small Donor in U.S. Politics

The Internet has resulted in many changes in the way American political campaigns are run.

Could any politician run for office without using e-mail? (A couple of the now-absent presidential candidates actually announced their candidacies via e-mail.) Political blogs have become must reading for almost everyone interested in politics. Presidential debates occasionally feature questions asked via video-sharing sites like YouTube.

But the biggest change may be in the way that many Americans now donate money to campaigns - via the Internet. That one change - which has really blossomed this election cycle - has opened up a whole new "ocean" of possible donors for candidates. And it's also one of the reasons why Sen. John McCain faces a serious fund raising shortfall against a Democratic candidate - particularly if his name is Barack Obama.

Politico.com looks at the number of "small donors" that each of the three remaining presidential candidates have attracted. About 150,000 small donors have given to the McCain campaign, accounting for about $11.4 million of the $52 million he has raised.

But McCain's totals are dwarfed by what the Democrats have done. Hillary Clinton has raised $16 million from about 225,000 small donors. Barack Obama ... well, he's so far ahead the number seem unreal

Obama has "raised nearly $47 million from more than 800,000 small givers through January. His campaign now says more than 900,000 people have donated to his cause."

And here's the part that many Republicans find scary - 97 percent of that almost 1 million donors aren't even close to reaching their donation limit of $2,300. Which means that Obama could go back to them again, and maybe even again after that.

(And let's not forget the fund raising success of Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Paul may not have come close to winning the GOP nomination, but his legion of online supporters and small donors have enabled him too raise enough money to continue his campaign.)

As Politico notes, imagine how that may increase when the Democratic presidential nominee finally emerges and many of those now contributing to the losing candidate's campaign switch to the winner.

12:12 PM ET | 02-26-2008 | permalink

Comments

Lets raise funds for candidates ourselves. They belong to us, not to corporate interests, lobbyists, or the banking system.

Sent by Jody Sol | 2:46 PM ET | 02-26-2008

This brings truth back into the phrase "United we stand." Bravo.

Sent by Heny | 4:44 PM ET | 02-26-2008

Where have all of the Paul Supporters Gone?

Back to texas, The ocean's no place for a squirrel.

Sent by Tim | 10:47 PM ET | 02-26-2008

"Managed to keep his campaign going???" How nice, an honorable mention of Ron Paul's campaign in an article about internet fundraising. R U Kidding? Dr. Paul's campaign has been earning millions on the internet consistently throughout this campaign. Not only have they broken the all time record for fundraising in a single day, and then beat that by $2 million, but neither he nor anyone in his campaign had anything to do with it. It came in automatically, organized by someone he didn???t even know. Ron Paul???s support has derived from the internet because it???s the only place where his campaign support is not belittled by corporate media. The internet is what we American???s call a forum for free speech, and the last hope of a free press. It???s the one place his message can reach people, and his huge online following should show you- we like what we hear. Ron Paul has the type of principles and integrity you can set your watch to, Give him some credit NPR

Sent by Jason Smith - Seattle, WA | 10:30 AM ET | 02-29-2008

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