India News

The 2008 US federal contests, including the presidential election, will be unprecedented in American history not just because of Senator Barack Obama, the first black American contesting for the White House, but also for the whopping costs it entails.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics more than $5.3 billion will go towards financing the federal contests on November 4.

The 2008 election for US president and Congress is not only one of the most closely watched US elections in years, it is also the most expensive in American history, the Center said, adding that the presidential race alone will cost nearly $2.4 billion.

Already the candidates alone have raised more than $1.5 billion since the election cycle’s start in January 2007.

This is the first time that candidates for the White House have raised and spent more than $1 billion, and this year’s total is on track to nearly double candidate fundraising in 2004 and triple of 2000.

The overall estimated cost of the 2008 election would represent a 27 percent increase over the 2004 cycle.

The Center said, that looking at each party’s growth, Democrats would have collected 52 per cent more money for their congressional and presidential efforts by the end of this election cycle, compared to four years ago.

Republican fundraising growth, however, has been a meager 2 per cent increase since 2004.

“This election will blow through historic records on a number of counts,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

“We’ve marveled for years at the cost of elections, especially during presidential cycles, but this one is the first to cross the $5 billion mark.

“At the same time, it’s encouraging to see more Americans than ever participating and offsetting the traditional dominance of special interests and wealthy donors who might be expecting payback,” Krumholz said.

“The only payback the small donor is expecting is a victory on Election Day. And that’s healthier for our democracy.”

The Center, which operates the award-winning website OpenSecrets.org and has been tracking the money financing federal elections since the 1980s, based its prediction of the 2008 election’s overall cost on fundraising reported to the Federal Election Commission as of October 21 by all candidates for federal office, political party committees and federally focused 527 committees.

The conservative estimate also includes independent expenditures on advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts by outside political action committees to support and oppose candidates, and it includes public funding for presidential candidates and estimated fundraising by the host committees of the major parties’ summer nominating conventions.

The money paying for the election – the home-stretch advertising, voter mobilization and other campaigning – is coming largely from the same industries and interests that have funded past elections.

Topping the Center’s 2008 list of big donors are contributors who list their occupation as ‘retired’.

They account for at least $204.3 million; lawyers and law firms ($180.9 million); the securities/investment industry ($122.8 million); real estate ($105.5 million) and health professionals ($69.6 million).

Business interests account for about 72 per cent of all contributions, with ideological, labour and other interests making up the rest.

“Among the big-giving industries, the Democrats’ advantage is smaller than in the overall election,” Krumholz said.

“While lawyers remain strongly in the Democrats’ camp and Wall Street favours them, some of the other top donors – retirees, real estate and doctors and other health professionals – are mostly split at this point between the two major parties,” the Center said late last month.

The Center said that viewed more broadly, the finance, insurance and real estate sector once again dominates in political contributions, exceeding $373 million in the Center’s most recent analysis.

Democrats have a slight edge with the finance sector. The top donors this cycle, based on contributions from their PACs and employees, are dominated by companies in the financial sector, and most of them favour Democrats, it said.

“Wall Street and other industries in the financial sector don’t seem to have tightened their belts � no signs of recession in their political giving.

“Of course, their contributions may be part of a strategy to continue securing government assistance for their businesses as the economy heads further south,” Krumholz said.