Kerry: Man of the People

Steve at Poliblog remarks [tongue planted firmly in cheek]: But I Thought he Hated Special Interest. A graf from the linked WaPo story:

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who has made a fight against corporate special interests a centerpiece of his front-running campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, has raised more money from paid lobbyists than any other senator over the past 15 years, federal records show.

A Kerry search at opensecrets.org reveals:

The top industries supporting John Kerry are:
1 Lawyers/Law Firms $4,136,939
2 Securities & Investment $1,643,600
3 Real Estate $1,050,233
4 *Retired $1,024,520
5 TV/Movies/Music $725,319
6 Business Services $714,600
7 Education $507,625
8 Misc Finance $502,875
9 Computers/Internet $492,100
10 Health Professionals $455,926

Top Contributors:
1 Skadden, Arps et al $116,150
2 Mintz, Levin et al $112,250
3 Goldman Sachs $84,000
4 FleetBoston Financial $83,250
5 Robins, Kaplan et al $82,200
6 Citigroup Inc $81,500
7 Piper Rudnick $80,250
8 Harvard University $75,800
9 Hill, Holliday et al $75,500
10 Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance $68,950

The catagory Indirect Expenditures has this disclaimer:

Expenditure data is only available for members of the House. The Senate has exempted itself from reporting expenditures.

Oh really? You will also note that 14% of Kerry's contributions are undisclosed.

Kerry has an established voting record and paper trail of a typical Northeastern Liberal funded by special interests; beginning with his Lt. Governship under Mike Dukakis to his disgraceful Iraq votes.

Will the media hold Kerry's feet to the fire of his rhetoric? Of course not, but the Blogosphere will. Contrary the old-media hype, the candidates don't understand the power of the Internet. They see it as a means to raise money and spew pat campaign rhetoric. This election cycle is going to change their ability to lie about or obfuscate their records and accept undisclosed funding....it's all just a googling away.

Note: "bolding" has been added for clarity or emphasis.

*Contributions in this category come from donors who list their occupation as "retired." All the money comes from individuals, which when combined, can make a big impact; “Retired” is generally the No. 1 “industry” that gives to federal candidates. The nation's largest organization representing seniors, the American Association of Retired Persons, does not have a PAC and does not make contributions. (AARP is, however, a major lobbying force on Capitol Hill.)

Posted by feste at January 31, 2004 09:43 AM | TrackBack