Both Obama and McCain claim that they will run the special interests out of Washington. To hear them talk, you would expect some sort of Frankenstein mob scene with lots of angry villagers and torches burning. I imagine Barack Obama or John McCain holding a torch in one hand and pounding on the door of the Capitol with the other one demanding that the monsters get out of town.
But wait, I thought, who is paying their campaign bills? How different are their funding bases? Afterall, the people writing those checks fully expect a return on their investment. These are not charitable donations. All campaign donations from Political Action Committees and wealthy donors are investments for repayment with interest. Both candidates know this despite all the self serving rhetoric about being their own "maverick" selves.
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Top 11 Major Funding Industries
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John McCain
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Barack Obama
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1. Retired
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$23,444,930
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1. Lawyers/Law Firms
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$21,746,468
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2. Lawyers/Law Firms
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$7,672,707
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2. Retired
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$20,557,708
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3. Securities & Investment
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$6,828,502
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3. Education
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$9,904,359
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4. Real Estate
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$6,548,019
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4. Securities & Investment
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$9,262,732
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5. Misc Business
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$5,213,779
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5. Misc Business
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$6,079,657
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6. Misc Finance
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$3,711,730
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6. Business Services
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$6,072,807
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7. Health Professionals
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$3,170,678
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7. Real Estate
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$5,990,561
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8. Business Services
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$2,369,372
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8. Health Professionals
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$5,385,988
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9. Commercial Banks
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$1,849,074
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9. TV/Movies/Music
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$4,840,738
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10. Insurance
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$1,622,628
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10. Computers/Internet
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$3,992,353
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11. Oil & Gas
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$1,531,269
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11. Misc Finance
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$3,670,240
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(Data accessed on 9/5/08 on http://OpenSecrets.org)
Now the web site OpenSecrets.org has the top 20 funding industries but I was only going to include the top ten 10 for sake of comparison, but then I noticed that Oil and Gas was number 11 in John McCain's list which I thought was interesting in light of his ongoing commitment to "stand up to Big Oil" (harrumph-harrumph).
It is apparent that Big Oil isn't too worried about John McCain standing up to them and they are instead funding him to stand up for them instead.
Also, while Lobbyists don't appear in Barack Obama's top 20, they do come in at #20 for John McCain. Another interesting contradiction for John McCain who promises to run the special interests and all their fat earmarks out of town.
An interesting thing about this is that 63.3% of each candidate's top 11 industry funders are identical. So where are they different and what does that say about their candidacy? In other words, what are they saying behind closed doors at the private fund raisers where this big money is gathered?
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Top 11 Major Funding Industry Differences
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John McCain
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Rank on Obama's
Top 20 List?
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Barack Obama
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Rank on McCain's
Top 20 List?
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Commercial Banks
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15
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Education
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16
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Insurance
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20
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TV/Movies/Music
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18
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Oil & Gas
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Not Present
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Computers/Internet
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Not Present
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(Data accessed on 9/5/08 on http://OpenSecrets.org)
There turns out to be only one industry in each candidate's top 20 list that does not appear in the other candidate's list. John McCain has Oil and Gas in his and not Computers/Internet and vice versa for Barack Obama. I wonder if the Computer industry is worried about Republican oversight, restrictions, or taxation. I wonder if the Oil industry is worried about Democrats putting money into alternative energy and limiting new drilling. The entertainment industry is obviously worried about censorship.
Bottom line is that almost all of the candidates' funding is coming from the same industries. And in response to John McCain's pledge to "stand up" to Big Oil, I quote the Republican crowd, "Drill Baby".
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