A4

Politics & The Nation

Key constituency helps outraise Democrats in campaign funds

by T.W. Farnam

For the first time in a decade, Republican candidates for Con- gress are raising more than Dem- ocrats from small donors. GOP candidates for the House and Senate this year have raised $70 million from small donors, compared with $44 million brought in by Democratic candi- dates, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance data. The trend is another sign that Republicans have turned their political momentum into money. Reports covering the first quarter had shown that GOP candidates were closing the gap or exceeding Democrats in key races and that corporations have started to shift behind the party. The giving also fits a pattern in which small contributors loyal to the opposition are more motivat- ed to give while their party is out of power. The last time Repub- licans received more small dona- tions than Democrats was during the 1998 midterms, when Demo- crat Bill Clinton held the presi- dency. In suburban Detroit, for exam- ple, 70 percent of the $450,000 raised by Republican House can- didate Rocky Raczkowski has come in checks of less than $200. “We have our own MoveOn dot

Rocky,” said Raczkowski, who is competing in the GOP primary and hopes to face freshman Dem- ocratic Rep. Gary Peters. “These aren’t rich people, they are just committed — and angry.” Raczkowski says auto-industry

layoffs in his district have prompted people to do some- thing about politics but denied them the ability to give much money. So they are supporting his campaign platform of small gov- ernment by giving small bills. “It’s overwhelming,” Raczkow- ski said, recalling a grandmother from Waterford, Mich., who wrote him a check for $5 after he answered her question at a gath- ering of local “tea party” support- ers. “She said, ‘I wish I could put more zeros after that, but I’m liv- ing on a fixed income.’ ”

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KLMNO

For the GOP, small donors come up big Banking on their support

10 15 20 25

0 5

= MIDTERM CYCLE

’90 ’92 ’94 ’96 ’98 ’00

HARRY HAMBURG/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) got more than half of his campaign funds from small donors on his way to winning an election in January.

In his campaign for the White

House two years ago, Barack Oba- ma changed the way money was raised by relying on legions of small donors. Nearly half of his record-setting war chest of $750 million was raised from donors giving less than $200 at a time. This year, it is Republican can-

didates who have ridden a wave of support from motivated con- tributors, including thousands of tea party members, financial re- ports show. GOP candidates have raised 16 percent of their money from small donors, compared with 10 percent among Demo- cratic candidates. Unlike individual candidates, the Republican National Commit- tee and other party committees have used mail solicitations to consistently bring in more money from small donors than their Democratic counterparts. The RNC’s reliance on small donors has increased this cycle, with many large donors choosing not to give to party headquarters af- ter controversies over its leader- ship. In Florida, retiredArmy Lt. Col.

Allen B.West has pulled in almost $1 million in small checks after attracting national attention for his conservative positions — much of it after a video of one of his speeches was widely viewed on the Internet. That’s almost twice as much money as West was able raise against incumbent Rep. Ron Klein in his first attempt at the seat in the 2008 election. The surge in small donations also helped Republican Scott

Brown in January in his victory in a Massachusetts senatorial spe- cial election, which spurred GOP momentum heading into the campaign year. Brown raised $8.3 million in small contributions, representing more than half of his total. The increase in small-dollar

support is not all good news for the party: Candidates getting small contributions do not always deliver the same message as party leaders. Tea party favorite Rand Paul,

for example, who won the GOP Kentucky Senate primary last week, is an ideological libertarian who has drawn 59 percent of his money from donors giving less than $200 at a time. He soundly defeated the establishment can- didate backed by Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell (Ky.). And while large donors usually

make smart-money bets on can- didates expected to win, smaller donors tend to let their check- books follow their hearts. As a re- sult, much of the small-donor money going to both parties is boosting candidates in uncom- petitive races, another problem for the national party. In Michigan, Raczkowski has a

competitive primary opponent, Paul Welday, who was chief of staff for former congressman Joe Knollenberg. If Raczkowski wins the primary, he will run against Peters, who has a $1.7 million campaign war chest. Even in the current advantageous political climate for Republicans, Peters is favored to win.

Among selected candidates

House candidates

Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D) Ohio 10th dist.

Rob Miller (D)

S.C. 2nd dist.

Rocky Raczkowski (R) Mich. 9th dist. Rep. Joe Wilson (R) S.C. 2nd dist.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D)

Fla. 8th dist.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) Minn. 6th dist. Allen B. West (R) Fla. 22nd dist. Rep. Joseph Cao (R) La. 2nd dist.

Senate candidates

Sharron E. Angle (R) Chuck Devore (R)

Nevada California

J. D. Hayworth (R) Arizona

Rand Paul (R) Kentucky

’02 ’04

TOTAL SMALL DONATIONS

$300,00

$1.6 million $300,000 $2.5 million $1.5 million $1.1 million $900,000 $500,000

$700,000 $1.3 million $700,000 $1.6 million

Scott Brown (R) Massachusetts $8.3 million Sen. Russell Feingold (D) Wisconsin

Marco Rubio (R) Florida Andrew Romanoff (D) Colorado

Pat Toomey (R)

Pennsylvania

$2.1 million $2.9 million $400,000 $2.8 million

NOTE: Includes money raised in the 2010 cycle through the most recent reporting period. SOURCE: Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports

BY T.W. FARNAM AND LAURA STANTON — THE WASHINGTON POST

One GOP candidate with grass- roots support, Californian Dana Walsh, is attempting something considered highly unlikely, un- seating House Speaker Nancy Pe- losi. That hasn’t stopped Walsh from pulling in $1.3 million in small checks, 90 percent of her to- tal fundraising. Overall, a minority of candi-

dates has raised the majority of small contributions. Half of all money raised in checks under $200 has gone to 34 candidates, whereas about 900 candidates have raised more than $100,000 for their campaigns. Small donors tend to favor can-

didates on the ideological mar- gins and those who have drawn large amounts of media attention. Among the Republicans who have received a disproportionate

House approves F-35 engine Pentagon doesn’t want

Lawmakers pursuing it despite opposition of defense secretary

by Craig Whitlock and Dana Hedgpeth

Defense Secretary Robert M.

Gates’s campaign to rein in de- fense spending was rebuked Thursday by the House, which approved an aircraft engine the Pentagon does not want despite the threat of a presidential veto. As the House voted on a $568 billion defense bill, lawmakers

tangled over a comparatively mi- nor item: $485 million to pay for a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a plane pro- jected to be the centerpiece of U.S. airpower in the coming dec- ades. Gates has opposed the extra engine for years, saying it is un- necessary and a waste of money. But Congress has argued that funding a second engine model for the F-35 would keep defense contractors on their toes by forc- ing them to compete. Gates has repeatedly threat- ened to advise President Obama to veto the entire defense bill if Congress pursues the second en-

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gine. The House approved the project anyway, overcoming an attempt by opponents to strip it from the bill. That attempt failed by a vote of 231 to 193, with both parties divided on the issue. “We don’t want nor need the

extra engine, but this is just one step in a long journey and Secre- tary Gates is committed to stay- ing engaged in this process the whole way,” Pentagon press sec- retary Geoff Morrell said after the vote, adding that Gates will still recommend a presidential veto “if necessary.” The Senate Armed Services Committee did not include mon- ey for the second engine in a re-

lated defense bill Thursday. But Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), the panel chairman and a supporter of the second engine, said the Senate and House will resolve the issue later in a conference committee. The primary engine for the

Joint Strike Fighter is manufac- tured by Pratt & Whitney, while the second model is built jointly by General Electric and Rolls- Royce. The manufacturers have been engaged in an increasingly visible fight to win support on Capitol Hill and in congressional districts where parts for the en- gines are made. Both sides have media campaigns that include full-page ads in major news- papers, slots on radio programs and pushing their respective sides on blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

Erin Dick, a spokeswoman for

Pratt & Whitney, said the com- pany has 1,500 Facebook fans — fewer than the 7,000 that the GE- Rolls Royce team boasts — and has tracked 8,000 letters to Con- gress via a promotional Web site

share of small checks: Rep. Mi- chele Bachmann (Minn.), and Senate candidates who stirred up two races this cycle, Marco Rubio of Florida and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. On the left, small donors have favored outspoken liberal Democrats, including Rep. Alan Grayson (Fla.), Sen. Russell Feingold (Wis.) and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio). If the 2008 election is any guide, the swell of small donors could foreshadow higher turnout at the polls. Raczkowski says his campaign already has 600 active volunteers. “It’s not about the money — it’s about the people,” he says. “They contribute what they can, wheth- er it’s five hours in the office or $5.”

farnamt@washpost.com

it is running. “It is incredible the number of people who’ve jumped into this debate on social media outlets,” she said. “I mean, after all, we’re talking about an engine for a plane here.” One Pratt & Whitney ad reads:

“This is the year for Congress to stop funding an extra engine for the F-35. For all those — Repub- licans and Democrats — who have talked about cutting gov- ernment waste, here’s your chance.” GE has fired back with its own

ads. It also argues that its engine “provides competition that will lead to more than $20 billion in savings over the life of the Joint Strike Fighter program — sav- ings that equal the cost of pro- ducing 200 fighter jets.” The Pentagon has disputed

those figures, calculating that it would cost taxpayers $2.9 billion more, on top of $1.3 billion al- ready spent, in upfront costs to develop the second engine. Gates has also said that any potential savings from having a competi- tion between contractors would be “theoretical.”

whitlockc@washpost.com hedgpethd@washpost.com

42 40

34 ’06 ’08 ’10

AS A PERCENTAGE OF ALL DONATIONS

71%

69 67

47 44

40

76% 74

65 59 56 50

68 70

Republican candidates are getting a higher percentage of their funding from donors who give less than $200 at a time.

Small donations as a percentage of total donations

30%

To Democrats

17%

16% To Republicans 10%

28%

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010

Senate passes measures for war funding, disaster relief

by Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery

The Senate approved emergen-

cy war funding and disaster relief Thursday but a larger bill, packed with jobless aid, business tax breaks and other economic in- centives, stalled in the House amid rising deficit concerns. The Senate bill, approved 67 to 28, carries a total price tag of $58.8 billion and includes $33.5 billion in Pentagon funding to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The balance will fund State Department activities, Haitian earthquake relief, and Tennessee flood cleanup. The bill awaits House action after the Me- morial Day recess. As part of the war funding de-

bate, Senate Democrats defeated a series of Republican amendments aimed at tightening security on the Mexican border, including a proposal by Sen. John McCain (R- Ariz.) to dispatch an additional 6,000 security troops. The McCain measure needed 60 votes to pass but got only 51. It did win support from 12 Democrats, including some up for reelection in November: Sens. Michael Ben- net (Colo.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.). Late Thursday, House leaders

were frantically disassembling the jobless package in hopes of win- ning over a large bloc of moderate Democrats for a scaled-down ver- sion. Talks were focused on re- moving about $24 billion in emer- gency aid to state governments, sought by governors in both par- ties, and paring back an extension of federal assistance to jobless workers who pay COBRA health insurance premiums.

Both of those provisions are

likely to be considered after the Memorial Day break, aides said. Meanwhile, House leaders also planned to remove a $23 billion provision that would postpone, until 2012, a 20 percent pay cut for doctors who see Medicare pa- tients. The fee reduction is sched- uled to take effect next week. The Senate adjourned Thurs-

day without passing any portion of the jobless package, amid a growing concern among Demo- crats that government spending is out of control. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said the Senate would attempt at least to extend unemployment benefits af- ter the recess. The fate of the other provisions is less certain. The latest House version would include about $40 billion to ex- tend jobless benefits and about $56 billion to extend expiring tax breaks and fund other measures. Only the jobless benefits would add to the nation’s budget deficit, aides said; the cost of the rest of the package would be covered by raising taxes on investment fund managers and closing loopholes that Democrats say encourage multinational corporations to send jobs overseas. The expiring tax breaks include scores of special-interest provi- sions that expired as of Jan. 1, in- cluding perks for the oil, cotton and coal industries, and subsidies for NASCAR tracks and Puerto Ri- can rum. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), a member of House Democratic leadership, said lawmakers debat- ed dropping some of the business tax breaks but decided not to risk the potential harm to companies still recovering from the recession.

murrays@washpost.com

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