Where Candidates Find The Big Bucks

If you're running for president, you generally follow two basic courses of action to fund your campaign: either work your connections at the grass-roots level, or dive straight in to the rivers of cash that flow through places like Manhattan and Los Angeles. The most successful candidates, of course, are masters of both strategies.

So where exactly do presidential contenders look for money? Just in time for the 2008 presidential race, the Federal Election Commission has created a slick interactive map to let you know. The feature, available at www.fec.gov, shows circles proportional to candidates' fund raising amounts in various ZIP codes across the country.

FEC spokesman Bob Biersack says the Commission wanted to give the public a user-friendly format to see fund raising statistics. "We've always had the philosophy that we're the primary source for this material," he says. "We do feel like we have the responsibility to make the information approachable to more than just experienced campaign finance users."

The map shows a congested swath of fund-raising activity from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. And predictably, California (with $20.4 million) and New York ($19.6 million) have provided the most money to presidential campaigns. It also reveals large clumps of fund raising in Texas ($8.4 million), Florida ($6.9 million) and Illinois ($5.9 million). In fact, those five states account for nearly 40% of the money raised at this stage in the campaign.

According to the FEC, the seven most lucrative ZIPs for presidential dough are in Manhattan, primarily on the edges of Central Park, making fund raising a relatively easy experience for candidates, at least geographically speaking. Upper Manhattan is where Wall Street sleeps, and these days, with the markets, hedge funds, private equity and deals riding high, candidates are following bank robber Willy Sutton's advice: "Go where the money is."

Ritzy 10021 on the Upper East Side raised nearly $2.6 million for candidates during the first quarter of fund raising--the most money of any ZIP code in the country. Local favorites like Sen. Hillary Clinton and former mayor Rudy Giuliani have mined the area's wealth, pulling donations from the likes of former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin (a Clinton donor) and real estate mogul Leonard Stern (a Giuliani contributor). East Side ZIPs 10028 and 10128 are also high on the list for candidates seeking big money, raising a combined $1.9 million.

Of course, there is much political activity on the other side of Central Park as well. ZIP code 10024 has raked in more than $900,000 for the candidates, and next door, 10023 has produced nearly $800,000. In Midtown, donors Henry Kissinger (to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.) and Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. (to Clinton) have contributed to the $1.9 million raised in ZIPs 10022 and 10019, both among the highest in the nation.

California's wealth is spread out more broadly across the state, and for this reason, only one of its ZIP codes--90210 in Beverly Hills--achieves "top 10" status for fund raising nationwide. Other national hot spots include Chicago's 60614, in the trendy Lincoln Park neighborhood, and Georgetown's 20007 in Washington, D.C.

In tracking this information, the FEC has compiled fund-raising data from the 19 people who have officially declared their candidacies. The map includes donations by individuals, political action committees and other sources, such as money left over from previous campaigns.

So far, more than $157 million has been raised by the eight Democrats and 11 Republicans in the race--a record this early in an election season. With $95 million in their combined coffers, Democrats far outpace their GOP rivals, who have amassed $62 million.

There are some surprising findings. For example, New Mexico, home of Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic candidate, has ponied up nearly $3 million--not so far behind the $3.5 million raised in hedge-fund haven Connecticut, which has its own Democratic contender, Sen. Christopher Dodd. Candidates have found a whopping $3.4 million in Washington, D.C., which has a resident population of less than 600,000. (OK, so the city does contain a few political junkies.)

The map also clearly illustrates the power of grass roots support. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has vacuumed up $3.7 million in Illinois, more than all other candidates combined in that state. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican, has raised $2.3 million in Massachusetts. And Republican Sen. John McCain's fund raising in his home state of Arizona is only slightly behind what he has amassed on the campaign trail in New York--about $1.3 million in both places.

The candidates are always trying to find new ways to cultivate donations. In 2004, Internet fund raising became a major fount of revenue. For some, this was a great way to generate a campaign buzz nationwide and pick up electoral votes in the process. But as any smart candidate knows, the biggest pots of gold--and the best places to find support early in the game--are in New York and California.

When the average person gives money to a candidate it is usually because the candidate represents the donor’s views.

When large donors give money it is usually to insure access to power. That’s why large financial banks, for example, give to bots sides. No matter who wins, they will get attention.

When really large donors, such as Indochinese billionaires and wealthy socialists gives money to a candidate, it’s usually to help bring America down.

If you hated America how else to damage the country than to back Democrats for political power?

I understand why unions, government workers, welfare recipients, socialists, minorities, illegal aliens and crazies vote for Democrats but why do so many otherwise successful and intelligent Amerians still vote Democrat?

“If you hated America how else to damage the country than to back Democrats for political power?”

True. But aside from the majority of Republican candidates for President and a few Republican Senators and the Republican House members, there is an asymptotic merging of the White House Administration and Republican National leadership with the Democrat Party. As for the candidates -most of them - they are running for office in the primaries. Like Jorge II several years ago they need us. Once they nominated and eleced, they dump us and conspire with their Democrat buddies.

“I understand why unions, government workers, welfare recipients, socialists, minorities, illegal aliens and crazies vote for Democrats but why do so many otherwise successful and intelligent Americans still vote Democrat?”

Not all union people and government workers support Democrats. A lot of them are conservative Republicans and as sick over this as you and I are. The problem is with Union leadership and some individual unions and those government workers who are allied with the social services.

A lot of people vote Democrat because they just hate America.

A lot of people vote Republican because they think there is a significant difference between them. Once upon a time there was. The amnesty bill and global warming issues indicate these differences are being attenuated.

Too many politicians on both sides are power mad, egomaniacal, self-centered elitists who think they are better than the people who put them in office and couldn’t care less about the social and economic integrity of America, American public opion, the visions of the Founding Fathers, or the Bill of Rights. See Trent Lott.

"When really large donors, such as Indochinese billionaires and wealthy socialists gives money to a candidate, it’s usually to help bring America down.

If you hated America how else to damage the country than to back Democrats for political power?

Think George Soros.

yitbos

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