Buying The Presidency: The Republicans, Part 1

Who’s buying the 2008 Republican presidential candidates?Buying The Presidency: The Republicans, Part 1By Cliff Montgomery – June 27th, 2007The 2008 presidential candidates have already amassed more than $150 million, after just the first three months of official fundraising. Those who buy our candidates have never started their shopping quite so early before.With so much being sold for so high a price, it’s time to discover just which big business groups are buying which candidates.We’ll run down the candidates for each party, going from the current front-runner to those unknown even by most of their own.Today and tomorrow we’ll expose who’s buying each of the Republican presidential nominees; Friday and Saturday will be the Democrats’ turn.Perhaps the biggest surprise among the G.O.P. field? For all their talk about “rogue lawyers” being mere Democrats in expensive suits, many of our Republican candidates for president are being bought by quite a few lawyers these days.We can only guess those lawyers aren’t so bad when they’re buying up presidential hopefuls on the Republican side of the table…The candidates’ numbers are derived from the most recent Federal Election Commission information released electronically by Monday, April 16, 2007.Mitt Romney – The former Massachusettes governor ended the first quarter as easily the biggest fundraiser among the G.O.P. set, as well as a true Republican competitor to Sen. Hillary Clinton.Total Receipts: $23,434,634Top 20 Industries1. Securities & Investment ………………………….. $1,923,9002. Retired …………………………………………………… $1,719,1413. Real Estate ……………………………………………. $1,602,6504. Misc Finance …………………………………………. $1,132,8275. Lawyers/Law Firms ………………………………… $1,092,7276. Business Services ………………………………….. $547,9257. Health Professionals ………………………………. $472,2758. Misc Business ……………………………………….. $436,0009. Education ………………………………………………. $307,20010 . Insurance …………………………………………….. $302,75011. Commercial Banks ………………………………. $288,36112. General Contractors …………………………….. $263,32513. Computers/Internet ………………………………. $254,35014. Misc Manufacturing & Distributing ………… $214,77615. Lodging/Tourism ………………………………….. $190,45016. Accountants …………………………………………. $166,22517. Pharmaceuticals/Health Products …………. $156,66018. Printing & Publishing ……………………………. $140,05019. Automotive …………………………………………… $139,35020. Misc Services ………………………………………. $132,975Rudolph Giuliani – The former New York City mayor hoped to raise up to $30 million in the first quarter of 2007; he didn’t come close to hitting that mark. Until recently however, Giuliani had been the clear favorite among rank-and-file Republicans.Total Receipts: $16,623,410Top 20 Industries1. Securities & Investment ………………………….. $1,837,0512. Lawyers/Law Firms ………………………………… $1,110,2253. Retired …………………………………………………… $1,002,9504. Real Estate ……………………………………………. $894,7765. Misc Finance …………………………………………. $755,7986. Misc Business ……………………………………….. $380,3007. Business Services …………………………………. $299,1508. Health Professionals ……………………………… $298,1229. Oil & Gas ………………………………………………. $238,15010. Commercial Banks ……………………………… $205,15111. Misc Manufacturing & Distributing ……….. $152,55012. Accountants ………………………………………… $135,75013. Education ……………………………………………. $135,67514. TV/Movies/Music …………………………………. $131,85015. Casinos/Gambling ………………………………. $118,20016. Insurance …………………………………………….. $116,80017. Printing & Publishing …………………………… $101,95018. Lobbyists ……………………………………………. $100,95019. General Contractors ……………………………. $96,25020. Misc Services …………………………………….. $82,300John McCain – McCain has spent much of his political career as Arizona senator in a brave battle against that democracy-killer, influence peddling from Big Donors. But when he failed to ignite interest among Republicans in the first quarter, he quickly began using George W. Bush’s gravy train to power by selling himself to the biggest donors who would buy him…and it’s a damn shame.Total Receipts: $13,087,559Top 20 Industries1. Retired …………………………………………………. $1,167,8562. Lawyers/Law Firms ………………………………. $1,104,3253. Real Estate …………………………………………… $784,7704. Securities & Investment ………………………… $758,1505. Misc Finance ……………………………………….. $382,8326. Commercial Banks ………………………………. $263,8507. Health Professionals …………………………….. $254,1018. Business Services ……………………………….. $235,6509. TV/Movies/Music …………………………………. $230,45010. Lobbyists …………………………………………… $166,55011. Construction Services ………………………… $127,92512. Telephone Utilities ……………………………… $123,60013. Insurance …………………………………………… $113,95014. Misc Business ……………………………………. $108,21315. Education …………………………………………… $103,14016. Civil Servants/Public Officials ……………… $94,50217. Misc Manufacturing & Distributing ………. $86,45018. Chemical & Related Manufacturing …….. $74,10019. Accountants ……………………………………….. $72,10020. General Contractors …………………………… $70,550Sam Brownback – The Kansas senator may not be well-known, but he knows something about  managing big-scale money matters; Brownback’s a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  But for all his connections, Brownback had less than $50,000 to start his campaign. This means he’ll have to sell himself without shame to some of his largest buyers–Big Medicine and Big Oil–throughout his presidential bid.Total Receipts: $1,871,057Top 20 Industries1. Retired ………………………………………………… $64,5492. Health Professionals ……………………………. $28,0503. Misc Finance ……………………………………….. $16,7504. Lawyers/Law Firms ………………………………. $16,6505 Securities & Investment …………………………. $16,1506. Real Estate ………………………………………….. $14,5507. Business Services ……………………………….. $12,5008. Misc Business ……………………………………… $12,4509. Education …………………………………………….. $8,50010. Construction Services ………………………… $7,60011. Pharmaceuticals/Health Products ……….. $7,20012. Oil & Gas ……………………………………………. $7,10013. Civil Servants/Public Officials ……………… $7,05014. Misc Manufacturing & Distributing ………. $6,45015. Computers/Internet …………………………….. $6,00016. Automotive ………………………………………… $5,70017. Clergy & Religious Organizations ………. $5,20018. TV/Movies/Music ……………………………….. $4,90019. Lobbyists …………………………………………… $4,00020. Republican/Conservative ……………………. $3,861Tom Tancredo – The Colorado representative is principally known for his tirades against illegal immigrants, whom he cannot abide as they are in no position to buy his services in any way. The immigrants’ inability to buy his compassion means that Tancredo will have to extend his bid beyond a single issue–a matter that became fiercely evident after the first quarter.Total Receipts: $1,256,090Top Industries1. Retired ……………………………………………….. $65,6102. Misc Business …………………………………….. $24,3503. Civil Servants/Public Officials ………………. $5,3654. Real Estate …………………………………………. $5,1505. Misc Issues …………………………………………. $5,0006. General Contractors ……………………………. $4,3007. Health Professionals …………………………… $4,0008. Automotive …………………………………………. $3,3009. Special Trade Contractors ………………….. $3,25010. Livestock ………………………………………….. $3,10011. Misc Finance ……………………………………. $2,60012. Education …………………………………………. $2,50013. Construction Services ………………………. $2,25014. Air Transport ……………………………………. $2,00115. TV/Movies/Music ……………………………… $1,80016. Other ……………………………………………….. $1,76017. Lawyers/Law Firms ………………………….. $1,75018. Oil & Gas …………………………………………. $1,50019. Beer, Wine & Liquor …………………………. $1,00019. Computers/Internet ……………………………. $1,00019. Forestry & Forest Products ……………….. $1,00019. Printing & Publishing …………………………. $1,00019. Defense Aerospace ………………………….. $1,000Like what you’re reading so far? 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