Only a tiny fraction of Americans actually give campaign contributions to political candidates, parties or PACs. The ones who give contributions large enough to be itemized (over $200) is even smaller. The impact of those donations, however, is huge.Only 0.06% of the population gave more than $2400 to political campaigns in the 2010 election cycle. And where did that money go?
By range of donations
| Count | Total* | To Dems* | To Repubs* | To PACs* | % Dems | % Repubs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donors giving $200-$2,399 | 672,049 | $450.0 | $163.0 | $182.0 | $105.0 | 36% | 40% |
| Donors giving $2,400+ | 146,715 | $1,136.0 | $496.0 | $468.0 | $190.0 | 44% | 41% |
| $2,400-$9,999 | 122,503 | $514.0 | $199.0 | $215.0 | $101.0 | 39% | 42% |
| $10,000+ | 24,212 | $621.0 | $297.0 | $252.0 | $88.0 | 48% | 41% |
| $95,000+ | 717 | $84.0 | $46.0 | $32.0 | $6.0 | 55% | 39% |
| $1,000,000+ | 2 | $2.0 | $0.0 | $0.0 | $2.0 | 0% | 7% |
As you can see, donors giving below $2400 were somewhat more likely to contribute to Republicans than Democrats--but when you get to the $2400 and above range (which to my way of thinking, means that you must be pretty darn rich), most is going to Democrats, not Republicans.
The situation in the 2008 election cycle was even more strongly the super-rich giving to the Democrats:
By range of donations
| Count | Total* | To Dems* | To Repubs* | To PACs* | % Dems | % Repubs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donors giving $200-$2,299 | 1,074,798 | $718.0 | $344.0 | $270.0 | $102.0 | 48% | 38% |
| Donors giving $2,300+ | 281,454 | $1,921.0 | $981.0 | $765.0 | $205.0 | 51% | 40% |
| $2,300-$9,999 | 245,155 | $938.0 | $471.0 | $371.0 | $102.0 | 50% | 40% |
| $10,000+ | 36,299 | $983.0 | $509.0 | $394.0 | $103.0 | 52% | 40% |
| $95,000+ | 1,006 | $118.0 | $67.0 | $39.0 | $14.0 | 57% | 34% |
| $1,000,000+ | 2 | $5.0 | $0.0 | $0.0 | $5.0 | 0% | 4% |
In 2008, even the "little" donors (those giving below $2400) were mostly giving to the Democrats, and of course, the disparity continues when you get into the obscenely rich ranges.
When, on when, are the news media going to drop the pretense that the Republicans are the party of the 1%, and the Democrats are the party of the people?
Well, there's that lonely pair of people who gave more than $1,000,000 to Republicans both times.
ReplyDeleteThose two people...if we can just get their names, we'll know who the rich are that give to the Republican Party. Even though most of their giving went to PAC's, not to either party...