The biggest donors support Democrats

Published 8:13 pm Thursday, January 1, 2015

1. Democrats: We must better explain what it means to be a Dem

Those who fear that money is destroying the political process and silencing liberal voices should find solace in a new report from Politico. In an article intended to be scary, it unintentionally shows that the really big money is coming from the left – and flowing straight to Democrats and liberal causes.

“The 100 biggest campaign donors gave $323 million in 2014 — almost as much as the $356 million given by the estimated 4.75 million people who gave $200 or less, a Politico analysis of campaign finance filings found,” the news site reported. “The numbers — gleaned from reports filed with the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service — paint the most comprehensive picture to date of an electoral landscape in which the financial balance has tilted dramatically to the ultra-rich.”

What’s implied here — but stated explicitly elsewhere, and often — is that conservatives are taking advantage of new rulings on campaign finance to sabotage the political system.

But that’s not what the evidence says.

According to Politico’s own findings, the top political donor of 2014 was Democrat Tom Steyer, at $74.3 million. Steyer is an environmentalist who made it his personal crusade to get opponents of the Keystone pipeline elected. He also spent millions in Florida to try to defeat Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Who came in second? Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spent $27.7 million of his own money last year. Bloomberg, an anti-gun Democrat, saw losing candidates and causes burn through his money.

It’s not until the third spot on the list you find a Republican — Sheldon Adelson. And his measly $13.2 million was less than a fifth of what Steyer spent.

The No. 4 spot went to Paul Singer, a hedge fund manager who split his $12.6 million between various candidates and causes. He supported some Republican candidates, some Democratic candidates, and he also continues to fund initiatives to get same-sex marriage legalized. So he’s something of a wash.

The fifth largest political donor of 2014 was another Democrat, Fred Eychaner, who gave $9.7 million.

At No. 6 was Bob Mercer, a Republican, who donated $8.4 million; ironically, the No. 7 spot went to Mercer’s business partner, Jim Simons, who donated $8.3 million to Democratic candidates — basically cancelling out Mercer.

So we’re down to the eighth spot, Joe Ricketts — a Republican who spent $6.8 million. He’s followed by the No. 9 donor, Dick Uihlein, at $6.7 million.

And finally — to the relief of Harry Reid and the Democratic National Committee — a Koch brother shows up. At No. 10, David Koch spent a total of $6.2 million in 2014.

Two points to make here. First, it’s clear that conservatives don’t have a monopoly on big donors. The biggest donors, by far, are liberals supporting like-minded candidates and causes. And that’s fine.

The second point is that yet again, we see clearly that money doesn’t buy elections. The political process isn’t being stolen by the fat cats, because we’re not mice.

Democracy is safe; those who are panicked about money in politics can take heart.