Both John McCain and Barack Obama portray themselves as agents of change who would clean up Washington by curbing the influence of powerful special interests.
So why are they permitting those interests to pay for their four-day-long political conventions?
More than $112 million - the bulk of the cost for this week’s Democratic National Convention, as well as for the GOP confab which follows - has been donated by powerful corporations and unions, as well as by several dozen well-heeled individuals, according to the Campaign Finance Institute and the Center for Responsive Politics, two watchdog groups.
Most of the contributors and reception-throwers have business pending before the government.
Take AT&T, which even before the conventions was the No. 2 donor to federal candidates and parties, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Little more than a month after Congress granted retroactive immunity to AT&T and other telecoms who participated in the Bush administration surveillance program, AT&T’s logo will be emblazoned across every delegate’s bag at the Democratic gathering.
Like a slew of other corporate sponsors, the telecom giant has donated more than a million dollars to the DNC in return for prominent display space and access to elected officials.
At a time when an array of telecom issues are before Congress and the executive branch, AT&T is also hosting more than a dozen parties at both conventions.
Qwest, another major telecom, has given $12 million in direct and in-kind contributions to the host committees for the Democratic and Republican conventions. CEO Ed Mueller is hosting an event at the Denver Art Museum on Monday, and will also throw a party at the GOP convention.
Qwest has given $682,000 to federal candidates and parties so far this election cycle, and spent $1.7 million on lobbying, according to the Campaign Finance Institute.
A long list of financial service powerhouses are sponsoring a “financial literacy brunch” at the Democratic convention, including Allstate, AEGON, Bank of America, Capitol One, Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Fidelity, Genworth, MasterCard, Mutual of Omaha, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group, State Farm, NASDAQ, US Bank, Visa, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. These companies are major lobbying forces in Washington.
Other major underwriters of the Democratic convention include Level 3 Communications, Molson-Coors, Union-Pacific and Xcel Energy. The Republicans have gotten donations of $1 million and up from UnitedHealth Group, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy and St. Jude Medical, a St. Paul, Minn.-based medical products firm,.
Then there are the lobbying firms that both candidates have said they would banish from the halls of power.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck, one of the nation’s largest lobby firms, is throwing an opening night Democratic National Convention gala at the Denver Art Museum. No wonder, given that founding partner and president Steven W. Farber is also co-chairman of the host committee for the Democratic Convention, who has beat the drum for contributions.
He’s not the only one: Mike Dino, the CEO of the Democratic convention host committee, works for Patton Boggs, the top-grossing lobby firm last year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Similarly, Anthony Foti with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the second highest-grossing lobby firm last year, is on loan to the Republican host committee, serving as director of external affairs.
Aikin Gump will throw parties at both conventions, as will Patton Boggs.
Some of the most powerful unions are also ponying up for the Democratic convention, including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) each of which gave at least $500,000 for the convention.
What do these groups get for their so-called “soft money” contributions, which unlike donations to the candidates, are not limited by campaign finance rules?
“By giving it to these host committees, they assure themselves of gratitude from the national party, from the presidential candidate, because what is a convention except the biggest and longest ad of the presidential election?” said Steven Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute.
That translates to access and influence, the currency of power.
As of August 8, 2008, 173 organizational donors - overwhelmingly corporations, but also several trade unions - had responded to solicitations from elected officials and fund-raisers dispatched by the host committees. Forty-eight of those companies gave money to both conventions, according to the Campaign Finance Institute.
As a New York Times editorial explained, the gimmick is that soft money is still allowed to be donated to the conventions because regulators consider the host committees independent ventures which are dedicated to promoting the host city. In fact, they are mostly run by party heavyweights eager to have their bills paid.
To be fair to both candidates, planning for the conventions was underway long before either man emerged victorious from his partys primaries. But they have also both been largely silent on the bills which will inevitably come due on their watch.
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