EckerNet.Com

A statement that is frequently dragged out into the daylight in any ideological debate is that the Republican Party is simply the “party of the rich”. For some reason, that is supposed to destroy any credibility for the rights ideology.

One could argue that this implies the Republicans are out of touch with the “common man”. Or else that all Republican policies are simply designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The only problem is that this statement is categorically untrue and doesn’t bear even the slightest research. In fact the Republicans get most of their money from small donations by individuals, where the Democrats usually rely on huge sums from a relatively small number of people/organizations/groups/etc. And since an election is coming up I think it’s worth officially debunking the myth of the “Party Of The Rich”.

So now EckerNet will look at how the Republican Party is the party of the “rich”.

We’ll start at The Center For Responsive Politics which in their own words:

The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. The Center conducts computer-based research on campaign finance issues for the news media, academics, activists, and the public at large. The Center’s work is aimed at creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more responsive government.

First of all, we often hear about horrendous sums of “soft money” that politicians are digging up. So let’s take a look at the top contributors (dated 6/9/2003) of “soft money” to the parties. And the most obvious is that these sources of “soft money” are overwhelmingly giving to the Democratic Party. In fact the top 3 contributors don’t give ANY to the Republican Party.

Hmmm, interesting. But let’s forget “soft money” and just look at who is giving who lots and lots of money. We’ll start by looking at donor demographics (dated 2002) which is really the heart of the issue. We should see the Republicans getting gobs and gobs of large sums of cash right? Wrong.

Now I don’t know what you see there, but I’ll tell you what I see. That the Republicans are definitely relying on the small contributions. But I thought the Democratic Party was the party of the “little guy”?? What “little guys” do you know that can afford to give millions to a political party? Meanwhile the “party of the rich” is getting by $200 at a time.

But keep in mind that $200 is the smallest amount you can itemize and so that is the smallest amount tracked. From this trend I’m sure the Republicans are more likely getting by $20 at a time. In fact, there is data that suggests just that from the same donor demographics (dated 2002):

Hmmm, the Republicans are raising more money by relying on the contributions of the little guy?? Wow, interesting. In fact here’s a news article saying just that.

So wow, there sure seem to be lots of big Democratic contributors….lots of millionaires giving to the Democrats rather than the “party of the rich”. In fact let’s take a look at some of the biggest individual contributors (dated 2002).

Hmmm, the first thing I notice is that of the top 10 individual contributors, only number 10 gives even a portion (65%) of their money to the Republicans. Other than that, the top 10 individual contributors give ALL their money to the Democrats….that doesn’t sound like they are following the party line does it?

Okay okay, so most of the rich individuals out there only love the Democrats. It’s got to be groups of rich people right?? Let’s look at what groups of individuals are contributing to the Senate and House (dated 2002) candidates.

Well dammit, once again I see most of them giving to the Democrats. How can all the rich people let “their” party down???

Wait….it’s not rich people….it’s got to be industry right! Those damn corporations! Let’s take a look at how the top industries (dated 2002) are donating money.

Once again the Democrats win. Now looking at the chart it might not be obvious and you might even say the Republicans come out ahead. But take a look at the numbers and do a little math. The Democrats come out with a whopping $377,920,895.41 and the Republicans get a healthy $366,433,662.34. So the Democrats technically receive more but in the spirit of Christmas I’ll declare it even…..even though as a right-winger I’m supposedly mean and cold-hearted.

Wow, so what have we learned so far. We’re learned that in general, millionaires, interest groups and industry give huge sums overwhelmingly to the Democrats and the Republican still manage to raise more money by collecting small sums of people from lots and lots of individuals.

But how can that be?!?! That’s is shattering the belief of “party of the rich”….or at least reversing it. Tell you what, instead of breaking it down by category (individual, group, industry). Let’s just look at the top contributors of 2002 to candidates and parties. This includes individual contribution, “soft money” and money to Political Action Committees (PACs). Let’s take a look at the big spenders…..the “rich” if you will.

Well, once again the Democrats have it….of the top 10 contributors not a single one gives a majority of their money to the Republicans. Wow….that’s bad news for the idea that the Republicans depend on the rich. Since according to this…they definitely do not.

“the sophisticated direct mail network the GOP has established over the years – a reliable source for millions of dollars in small contributions.”

Okay okay, so it’s fuzzy math right??? Well, if it’s fuzzy math, then it’s got to be a trend….because you can find numbers saying the same thing here and here. Hell, you can also go to the source if you’d like.

So….what does all this say? The Republican Party is most certainly not the “party of the rich”. At best it’s the party of millions of political active small-time contributors who don’t like to see their hard earned dollars being wasted by the TRUE party of the rich and wealthy special interest groups. So instead these individuals send a few of their hard-earned dollars to the party that really reflects the needs of the common man.