Big Gaps In Dole's Campaign Finance Records

Part 1 of 2

By Brooks Jackson/CNN

WASHINGTON (July 30) -- The way money is flowing into the Clinton and Dole campaigns this year, it takes more than a pocket calculator to keep track of it. It takes a computer and a lot of work to tell who's financing the candidates.

CNN and The Boston Globe commissioned a study of donors who gave $200 or more to the Clinton and Dole primary campaigns. "This was sleuthing that the average citizen could not do," says Dwight Morris of the Campaign Study Group, which tracks campaign finance.

The first finding: Dole failed to disclose the occupation or employer of more than 10,000 of his large contributors, or nearly one out of every three.

The Dole campaign says it's doing all the law requires. Said spokeswoman Christina Martin: "The Dole campaign has made every good effort, attempt, to fill in the information as required, and continues that to this date."

Critics say that's not good enough. "The idea of only telling the American people where only two-thirds of your money came from is reprehensible," said Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group.

The Clinton campaign did much better; only seven percent of its itemized contributions were missing the information.

Using public records, the Campaign Study Group filled in the missing information for thousands of those donors -- a process known as "fingerprinting" the contributions.

Lawyers, just as in 1992, were by far the biggest Clinton supporters. This year Clinton vetoed a Republican bill to limit lawsuits.

Lawyers gave $3,482,489 to the Clinton campaign. That was nearly triple the $1,211,664 they contributed to Dole, according to the Campaign Study Group's work.

Why do lawyers like Clinton? "Many of the principles lawyers care about, President Clinton has been leading the way," said Ann Lewis of the Clinton/Gore campaign.

Martin of the Dole campaign sees it differently.

"One can also depend upon the fact that the more government, the more there is to litigate," she said.

Wall Street was Dole's biggest backer, according to the CNN/Boston Globe study. In all, Dole reaped nearly $2 million from the financial services industry. Clinton raised just more than $1 million, his second-largest source of campaign money.

With their Medicare and Medicaid payments on the operating table, doctors and the health-care industry gave more to the president than to Dole. The Clinton campaign got more than $1 million. Dole got just more than $780,000.

School teachers gave heavily to the president's campaign: $423,610, compared to $150,425 flowing to the Dole effort.

Dole would eliminate the federal Department of Education, while Clinton would expand federal aid. Says Lewis: "Many of his (Clinton's) initiatives are about increasing support for education, more Head Start classes to more student loans and scholarships so that more young people can get to college."

Also favoring Clinton: the entertainment industry, blasted by Dole last year for exploiting sex and drugs. Clinton picked up $360,350 in contributions, compared to Dole's $92,525.

Says Martin: "Clearly, it has to do with Senator Dole's well-known position that it's time for Hollywood to clean up its act."

Agriculture, on the other hand, heavily favored the man from Kansas. According to the CNN/Boston Globe study, Dole got $497,225 from farmers and agribusiness. That was nearly four times the $135,325 that Clinton collected.

Industries giving heavily to both sides included manufacturing. Clinton got $319,200, while Dole collected $531,969, according to the Campaign Study Group.

Another big giver is real estate. Developers want tax breaks no matter who's in power. Real estate interests gave $819,973 to Clinton, $796,974 to Dole.

Both candidates did well with small donors. More than $10 million flowed to Dole and just less than $9 million to Clinton from people giving less than $200 each.

In Part 2, Brooks Jackson will report on which companies gave the most and which firms are bankrolling both sides.

This story originally appeared on CNN's "Inside Politics."

Related Profiles:

• -- Bill Clinton -- Center for Public Integrity's Campaign Finance Profile
• -- Bob Dole -- Center for Public Integrity's Campaign Finance Profile

Related Site:

• Center for Public Integrity

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