Campaign 2008: The Center For Responsive Politics Is Following The Money

It's revealing to see who is giving how much to whom in the "2008" presidential campaign. (I confess being old enough to remember when candidates would rarely even announce before January of the even year.)

The Center For Responsive Politics has a new feature on their Web site, and in my view the most interesting part is the breakdown of campaign contributions by category of industry.

I will give the link to the whole thing before concluding -- it is vast documentation. But this should whet the appetites of policy wonks. Here goes:

Casinos/gambling. Giuliani is by far the favorite here. At $161,300, his nearest competitor is McCain, with $63,300. Among Democrats, Chris Dodd, at $52,150, edged out Hillary Clinton.

Commercial banks. Oddly, Obama leads here, with $607,259, and Hillary is second with $492,725. Among the GOPers, McCain led with $479,085, but Mitt and Rudy weren't far behind. Dodd did OK, and then it drops off sharply.

Computers/Internet. Hillary edged Obama here, $622,955 to $580,972. Mitt was far and away the GOP fave, at $436,327.

Education. Obama, not even close. $1,367,384. Hillary, $973,531. Among GOPers, Romney is a distant third at $438,335.

Health professionals. Hillary at $998,851. Romney had $829,337.

Hedge funds & private equity. Mitt edges Dodd, $797,325 to $726,950. Clinton, Obama and Rudy were all close behind.

Insurance. Wow. Chris Dodd led here, at $592,950. Romney, $473,535. Hillary, Rudy and Barack were competitive but trailed.

Lawyers/law firms. This group seems to favor Democrats heavily. John Edwards, $6,541,388. Hillary, $6,259,925. Obama, $5,471,423. Rudy was the closest Republican at $2,228,344.

Lobbyists. Hillary with $413,140. McCain a distant second at $261,975. It drops off after them.

Oil & Gas. This industry has had a long love affair with the Republican Party. Rudy leads with $396,058, with Mitt trailing at $233,800. Hillary fares best among Democrats, at $180,850.

Pharmaceuticals/health products. Romney led with $227,455. Hillary got $172,150. Barack was a close third at $160,572.

There's so much more, but you get the picture. It's good that someone is following the patterns of how this legal bribery works. It gives us some idea of who's going to be able to call in the biggest debts come Jan. 20, 2009.

The link is here. Enjoy, policy wonks.