political donors

(Newser) - President Bush withdrew a presidential pardon today after it emerged that the father of a convicted Brooklyn developer donated $28,500 to the Republican Party, CNN reports. The president’s counsel approved clemency for Isaac Toussie on charges of mail fraud and false statements to federal officials, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, but given the new information, “the pardon might create an appearance of impropriety.” More »

(Newser) - The little guy didn't fill Barack Obama's campaign coffers after all, a new non-partisan study says. True, almost 50% of his donations were $200 or less, but many of those donors gave again. Only about a quarter of them stopped at two C-notes, a figure in the same range as donations to John McCain. About 80% of Obama's money came from people who gave more than $1,000, the New York Times reports. More »

(Newser) - A secretive group of wealthy gay activists who call themselves the Cabinet has been pouring huge sums into defeating anti-gay political candidates across the country, Time reports. The seven members of the Cabinet are estimated to have injected at least $7.8 million into races nationwide since 2004, and have earned a reputation in the gay community as a sort of "homosexual justice league." More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s small donors have grabbed the headlines this election, but the latest campaign finance reports reveal that big donors have been playing their biggest role in ages, the New York Times reports. Both candidates have used joint committees, which raise money for both the candidates and their parties, to subvert the $2,300 individual donation limit, allowing donors to give tens of thousands with one check. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama received some $40,000 from obviously fictitious donors, the New York Times reports. After poring over both candidates’ records, the Times found some 3,000 donations to Obama from more than a dozen people with obviously falsified names —like “Test Person” from “Some Place, UT.” McCain had such donors as well, but far fewer than Obama. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain have racked up nearly 100 “bundler” donors between them who have gathered at least $500,000 each from friends and co-workers to support their chosen candidates, the Wall Street Journal reports. The candidates’ spending suggests the fundraisers are breaking bundling records set during the campaigns of President Bush, the first candidate to reap big benefits from the system. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama likes to tout his small-donor network, as though a wave of inspired regular folk came out of the woodwork just for him. In reality, Obama is mining a money class that Democrats have been cultivating for years, writes David Brooks in the New York Times —"the rising class of information age analysts." More »

(Newser) - On the eve of today’s Democratic Unity rally, top Clinton donors intimated that they weren't quite ready to break out their party hats (or pocketbooks) for Obama. Said one of the 200 top Hillary backers corralled by the senators last night in DC, “This felt like when your mom forces you to go visit your Aunt Ida and she has to pinch your cheeks and…you can't wait to leave.” More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama made a personal $4,600 donation to Hillary Clinton's campaign—a gesture to win over her supporters as the Democratic party tries to unify following the divisive campaign for the nomination. Obama told a meeting of 200 top Clinton fundraisers he's encouraging his donors to help pay off Clinton's $20 million campaign debt. "I'm going to need Hillary by my side campaigning during his election, and I'm going to need you," Obama said. More »