The Washington Post offers this front page report, which begins: “The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton.”
The New York Times offers this front-page report, which begins: “In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far. But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size.”
The statement in the last sentence excerpted above is true, but somewhat misleading. According to this chart from the Campaign Finance Institute, looking at primary receipts only, Sen. Obama raised 31% of his donations in contributions of $1,000 or higher. This compares to 48% of Senator Clinton’s fundraising and 61% of Sen. McCain’s fundraising.
Looking at it another way (again looking at primary receipts only), Sen. Obama raised 51% of his contributions ($165 million) in contributions of $200 or less, compared to Sen. Clinton’s 36% ($66.5 million) and Sen. McCain’s 25% ($32 million).