Bush’s Breadth

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

President Bush yesterday disclosed on his campaign Web site, georgewbush.com, the names of more than 105,000 donors to his campaign. A full 85,591 of them are donors whose disclosure is not required by law, because they gave the Bush campaign less than $200. Scanning the list of New Yorkers who gave, we were struck by the profiles of some of the smaller donors. Their inclusion on the list provides a remarkable account of the breadth of Mr. Bush’s political support. Included were gifts of $12.50 from a New York City sanitation worker and $50 from a New York public school teacher. A self-employed flooring contractor gave $10. A New York City police detective and a Baptist minister gave $12.50 each. A security guard at the Frick museum gave $25. One truck driver sent $15. Another sent $25. The last names, just in the “c” pages, give a sense of the diversity of Mr. Bush’s supporters — there are Cohens and Clementes, a Costello, a Cunningham, a Chu, a Chung, a Cirillo, a Cihoski, and a Coddington. It gives the lie to the notion that the Republicans are a party of fat cats, and to the idea that these donations are somehow a way to purchase influence in Washington. Instead, these gifts are a form of political speech, a way in which teachers and truck drivers can make their voices heard in our democracy right alongside the industrialists, financiers, and corporate lawyers who are making the $2,000 maximum contributions.


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