Before Election Day, Follow the Money
FEC-Norwalk
The Norwalk Hour
Jamie Hammon
Boston University Washington News Service
10-19-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 —Most people are aware that behind every prominent politician is a well-endowed campaign coffer. But do they know exactly who has provided the money to the candidates they will be choosing among this Election Day?
Campaign finance records have been public record since the 1970s, but a pair of user-friendly Web sites has made that information accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.
Candidates have to report all contributions over $200 – everything from the personal check from the guy next door to the contribution from a major interest group – to the Federal Election Commission. And Web sites like those for the Center for Responsive Politics (www.opensecrets.org) and Political Money Line (www.politicalmoneyline.com) have organized and analyzed those numbers. That means one can monitor not just the money politicians are getting, but also the money one’s neighbors and friends are giving.
“It is very important for voters to know how politicians are funding their campaigns,” said Gary Rose, professor of government and politics at Sacred Heart University and an expert in Connecticut politics.
“It certainly gives a good idea as to what policies they will pursue in the future and what their ideological orientation is,” Rose said. “If you follow the money, so to speak, you can get an idea of where the candidates are coming from and what their agendas will be.”
Campaign financing numbers are especially important this year in Connecticut’s 4th District, where the rematch this year between Rep. Chris Shays (R) and Democratic challenger Diane Farrell is not only one of the closest House races in the country, but also the fifth most expensive: Shays raised $3,193,031, triple the average incumbent’s $1,083,054; Farrell raised $2,485,506, 11 times as much as the average challenger’s $223,787.
Add that more 4th District voters are registered as Independents than as Democrats or Republicans, and the amount of cash each candidate has on hand becomes crucial as Election Day draws near. According to the candidates’ filings with the Federal Election Commission, Shays on Sept. 30, the end of the most recent reporting period, had about $1.6 million and Farrell about $812,000, and that money will probably go to the television advertising that “alters that large block of unaffiliated voters,” Rose said.
The Web sites that track campaign financing have increased the transparency of money in politics, which may have increased the legitimacy of political contributions, said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics.
“[Politicians] know that this information is publicly disclosed and that people can look at it, and so in certain situations they may think twice about taking someone’s money,” Ritsch said. “The check that they could collect is not worth the political headache that they might feel for taking a contribution like that.”
But if investigating a candidate’s financial integrity is not enough motivation to explore these sites, perhaps the ability to spy on one’s neighbors is. Users of opensecrets.org can find out what political campaigns their neighbors have contributed to, or find out what individual donors from their zip codes are making the largest contributions to each candidate. Click on the “who gives” tab, then “donor lookup,” then enter the state, the zip code and the election cycles.
“Everyone has a little bit of a voyeur in them, and they want to know whether the person next door to them shares their political affiliations,” Ritsch said. “Again, it’s only the bigger donors, those who give more than $200, but in most zip codes you are going to see somebody you know.”
Ritsch said that it’s hard to know exactly who is coming to the site, but he knows that it is also visited by the voting public. “We hear from reporters and activists, but the voters – we know they’re out there, they’re just more quiet than the others,” he said.
Rose said that if Connecticut’s voting public knew about the sites, they probably would use them as well.
“Nobody ever knows about this stuff,” he said. “You hear issues about [how much candidates have raised], but nobody really knows the genesis of it.”
“The people who vote, particularly in a congressional election, would be the type of people to want to know this type of information,” Rose said.
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