Liberals Getting 90 Percent of Donations From 527 Groups
By: Steve Sawyer | Source: CNSNews.com
June 28, 2004 11:16AM EST

By Robert B. Bluey
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
June 28, 2004

(CNSNews.com) - Only one of the top 25 donors to political 527 groups has given to a conservative organization, shedding further light on the huge disparity between Democrats and Republicans in this new fund-raising area.

The top three 527 donors so far in the 2004 election cycle - Hollywood producer Steven Bing, Progressive Corp. chairman Peter Lewis and financier George Soros - have combined to give nearly $24 million to prominent liberal groups. They include the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, America Coming Together and MoveOn.org.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks 527 data, liberal organizations have amassed nearly $80 million in donations compared to a mere $8 million for their conservative counterparts. Groups are categorized as 527s for the section of tax code that regulates them.

The liberal-leaning groups' big advantage is expected to benefit Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry, according to campaign finance watchdogs. Even though the 527 groups are prohibited by law from consulting with the Kerry campaign or Democratic National Committee, they can air television ads supporting him and criticizing President Bush.

"You can certainly say that 527 groups, dominated by Democrats, are going to help even the financial playing field between Bush and Kerry," said Steven Weiss, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics.

Bush, for instance, has raised far more "hard money" donations than Kerry. At the end of May, the most recent reporting period, Bush had raised a total of $218 million, a presidential record. Kerry, meanwhile, has set a record for his own party by raising $148.5 million. When all Democrat primary candidates are factored in, the total stands at $322 million.

The one conservative donor to make the 527 list, New York stockbroker Richard Gilder, was 20th among the top 25. Gilder gave $425,000 to the Club for Growth, a 527 group dedicated to limited government and lower taxes that was founded in 1999.

Unlike some of the liberal 527 groups, the Club for Growth existed before the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law was enacted in 2002. That law restricted unlimited "soft money" contributions to the national parties, prompting Democrats to seek other fund-raising methods.

The Club for Growth's executive director, David Keating, said Republicans shied away from giving to 527 groups fearing they were illegal. It took the Federal Election Commission until May 13 to issue a ruling on 527s, and by that time Republican-leaning groups lagged far behind.

"The Republicans have been beating a drum that giving money to 527 groups to run advertisements that mention the name of any presidential candidate is illegal," Keating said. "I think they're wrong about that, but they've beat that drum long and hard enough that probably a lot of the donors, who might have otherwise given, don't [give] because they don't think they can."

Donors who have given to Republicans or conservative causes in the past told CNSNews.com they had little interest to support 527s in this election cycle.

"It is not effective use of money for Bush. It may have some benefit for Kerry, but I'd suggest it's probably limited," said Richard Collins, a Texas businessman who serves as chairman of the Dallas Entrepreneurial Political Action Committee.

"Conservative donors are not particularly energized that the 527s on the left are going to be able to impact this election," he added.

Collins said the money would be better spent by local or state parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote initiatives.

Another Republican donor, retired Nevada businessman Walter Casey, blamed the 2002 campaign finance law for the proliferation of 527 groups. Even though Casey said he probably wouldn't give to Republican 527s, he was surprised by the disparity.

"The Republicans haven't responded to this as I thought they might in getting their own people set up [with] money that can be used to fight the liberals," Casey said. "You would think they would take advantage of that, set up their own 527s and try and compete on that level."

Two of the most prominent conservative 527 groups, the Leadership Forum and Progress for America, are relatively new. Casey speculated that Democrats had 527s in mind when the campaign finance law was enacted, and therefore, wasted little time getting them up and running.

"It may be too late to really do anything," Casey said of the Republican 527s. "It takes a while to put something like that together. Then you've got to find somebody who will give you the money."

Despite their huge advantage with 527s, liberals are still racing to raise more money, if only to counter what Bush has been able to bring in to his own campaign. Soros, their most outspoken contributor, has pledged another $5 million for America Coming Together, the left's primary get-out-the-vote initiative.

"We've always known that the Republican Party will be very well financed," said Sarah Leonard, spokeswoman for America Coming Together. "Whether their dollars are going to the Bush-Cheney campaign, the RNC or 527s, they won't have any problem taking in enough money."

But it's not as if Republicans lack options in terms of placing their donations, said Steve Weissman, associate director for policy at the Campaign Finance Institute.

He noted that conservatives have groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Tax Reform, which are afforded more leeway in the political arena than other non-profits because of their IRS classification.

"Republicans felt that they already had an efficient mechanism," Weissman said. "Why go for bigger things?"

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