In a response to this post, I traced some of the info the author cited regarding Ron Paul’s donors in Q3 2007. This got me looking at the cash leaders of both parties and where their money comes from. I looked at the top 20 contributors for Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Romney, Giuliani, McCain, and Thompson.
You may notice the same thing I did. There is significant overlap between candidates and their top 20 campaign contributors.
- Citigroup Inc – Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, McCain
- Credit Suisse Group – Obama, Romney, Giuliani, McCain
- Goldman Sachs – Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Romney, Giuliani, McCain
- JP Morgan Chase & Co – Clinton, Obama, Romney, Giuliani, McCain
- Lehman Brothers – Clinton, Obama, Romney, Giuliani, McCain
- Merrill Lynch – Clinton, Romney, Giuliani, McCain
- Morgan Stanley – Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Romney, Giuliani, Thompson, McCain
There are many ways this pattern could be explained, the most obvious being that all these firms have lots of employees with different political leanings, therefore making it likely that many campaigns would find these companies’ employees amongst their donors. It strikes me as odd, however, that all of these candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, find their coffers flush with cash specifically from the financial sector. Perhaps it is because these companies and their employees depend on the Federal Reserve System to retain their market dominance, thus their jobs, and that system is high on Ron Paul’s list of things the government shouldn’t do.
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