HispanicVista Columnists

Center for Responsive Politics
February 28, 2008

SUPERDELEGATE UPDATE
Capital Eye reported two weeks ago on a connection that superdelegates have to the candidates that voters and pledged delegates don't -- nearly $1 million in campaign contributions. As the uncommitted superdelegates have been deciding which candidate to support at this summer's nominating convention, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has identified an additional $42,800 that flowed in the last three years from Clinton or Obama's coffers into the hands of superdelegates with campaign accounts, bringing the total to $947,000. About 80 percent of the time, the candidate who gave more money has received the superdelegate's endorsement.

*Read update: http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=338
*Updated chart of superdelegates receiving money: http://www.capitaleye.org/superdelegates.asp

NEW PRESIDENTIAL DATA FOR INDUSTRIES AND CONTRIBUTORS
The presidential candidates continued to lean on lawyers, Wall Street and other big industries in their January fundraising. OpenSecrets.org now has updated reports on the candidates' top industries and contributors, and how they stack up against each other with the industries and broad sectors that the Center for Responsive Politics tracks. Also check out the updated Money Primary, which shows which candidate was the top fundraiser in each state during January. The map of the U.S. is now a deep shade of purple, the shade indicating Barack Obama's state-by-state dominance in fundraising last month. Toggle back to earlier periods and you'll see what a difference January made for the Democratic frontrunner.

*Presidential fundraising by sector: http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/sectorall.asp?cycle=2008
*Candidate breakdowns by selected sector: http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/sectors.asp?cycle=2008
*Breakdowns by selected industries (more specific than sectors): http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.asp?cycle=2008
*The Money Primary: http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/toprecipQ1_2008/toprecip.asp?cycle=2008

McCAIN RESPONDS TO FEC; DEMOCRATS FILE COMPLAINT
The back-and-forth continued this week between presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and the Federal Election Commission over McCain's desire to opt out of the public financing system for the primary election. In a Feb. 25 response to FEC Chairman David Mason, McCain's attorney (who is a former FEC chairman himself) cited precedents for releasing McCain from the presidential campaign fund and its spending limits, because while McCain had qualified for taxpayer financing, he had not yet collected any money. Mason had also asked McCain's campaign to provide additional evidence that the promise of public financing was not used to secure a $4 million line of credit (which would be against the rules). The campaign provided a letter from its bank's attorneys, one of them a -- you guessed it -- former FEC chairman, saying that the bank was very careful not to factor public financing into its evaluation of the loan. Also this week, the Democratic National Committee complained to the FEC that McCain had broken the rules in a number of ways and shouldn't be released from the limits of the public financing system, which would limit his campaign to about $5 million in spending between now and the Republican convention. (When he ran for president in 2004, DNC chairman Howard Dean also pulled out of the public system after qualifying, which McCain's campaign cited in its letter to the FEC this week, but the DNC asserts that situation was different.) Of course, the FEC can't settle this matter right now because they don't have a quorum -- and not because all the former commissioners seem to have become election attorneys in private practice. Who's holding up the nominees in the Senate? Well, on the Democratic side, one of those senators has been Barack Obama. Small world.

*Correspondence between the FEC and the McCain campaign:
http://www.fec.gov/press/press2008/20080226notice.shtml

*Summary of the DNC's complaint: http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/02/dnc_to_file_com.php

WITH UNLIMITED DONATIONS, TAX-EXEMPT GROUP STUMPS FOR CLINTON
Leading up to Tuesday's presidential primaries, TV ads, mailings and telephone calls are targeting voters in Ohio and Texas and giving them reasons to support Hillary Clinton -- and Clinton doesn't have to pay a thing for this help. A new organization, the American Leadership Project, is a tax-exempt group known as a 527 that was started this month by a group of Democrats to help the New York senator in the two biggest states voting March 4, and maybe even in Pennsylvania, according to news reports. 527 committees can raise unlimited funds but can't directly support or oppose a candidate, and they must keep their activities independent of any campaigns. The group has reportedly asked donors to pledge $100,000 to help Clinton out -- far more than the $4,600 those individuals could donate to her campaign committee. But because of the lag in disclosing contributions, the group's donors won't have to be revealed until after the primary. The people known to be behind this 527 include advertisers, communications experts and Democratic political consultants, some who have already opened their own pockets to Clinton. Jason Kinney, a communications advisor to former California Gov. Gray Davis, gave Clinton at least $4,400 and is helping run the committee. Political consultant Erick Mullen has given Clinton at least $2,550 this year for her presidential bid.

*OpenSecrets.org's 527 database: http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/index.asp
(Data for 2008 will be incorporated soon.)

NADER TO RUN AGAIN
Ralph Nader lives by the adage "if at first you don't succeed, try again." And again. And again. The third-party candidate, who also ran in the last two presidential elections, announced this month that he's going to give it another go this year, this time facing some record-breaking fundraisers who are making public financing obsolete. In 2000, Nader raised $8.4 million as the Green Party's candidate, with $723,300 coming from taxpayer funds. He was accused of stealing votes from Al Gore that could have cost the Democrat the White House. In 2004, the consumer advocate collected $4.6 million, with nearly $800,000 from public financing, and won a mere 0.3 percent of the vote as an independent. In both campaigns, Nader relied mostly on small donations; his larger contributors tended to be retired individuals, educators, lawyers or in the entertainment industry. Although Nader hasn't yet decided which party he'll run with this time, this election isn't likely to be any easier for him.

*Nader's 2004 presidential profile: http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/summary.asp?ID=N00000086
*Nader's 2000 presidential race: http://www.opensecrets.org/2000elect/index/P20000527.htm

INDICTED CONGRESSMAN HAS RELIED ON REAL ESTATE, INSURANCE INDUSTRIES
Republican Rep. Rick Renzi (Ariz.) said this week that he won't step down from Congress after a federal grand jury indicted him on 35 charges of corruption, including embezzlement, money laundering and extortion. Renzi has been under investigation since 2006 over allegations that he promoted a land swap in his home state that benefited himself and a business partner. Renzi, whose personal financial disclosure for 2006 put his net worth between $1.2 million and $5.3 million, allegedly received payment from these land sales through a company his father owned. In addition, the congressman was accused of paying for his first House campaign with money he embezzled from the insurance industry. The real estate industry and insurance industries are linked to Renzi in another important way -- they have been the biggest contributors to his congressional campaigns. During his three terms in Congress, Renzi collected at least $342,100 from real estate companies and $254,600 from the insurance industry.

*Renzi's career profile: http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allsummary.asp?CID=N00024931

*Renzi's personal finances: http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.asp?CID=N00024931

LOBBYING UPDATES CONTINUE
If you've visited OpenSecrets.org's Lobbying Database recently, you may have noticed that year-end reports have been making their way into the data. The Senate Office of Public Records is still posting reports, so we can't yet close the books on lobbying in 2007. We do know that at least $2.06 billion was spent on federal lobbying last year, though. Check OpenSecrets.org next week for more updates.

*OpenSecrets.org's Lobbying Database: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/index.asp

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e-mail: editor@capitaleye.org; web: www.OpenSecrets.org; www.CapitalEye.org