Government Workers Help Bankroll Clinton's Campaign

Part 2 of 2

By Brooks Jackson/CNN

WASHINGTON (July 31) -- When President Bill Clinton goes to big black-tie fund-raising dinners, he usually takes time to also drop by a gathering of the "Saxophone Club" -- an organization for young supporters of the president.

Last year, for example, members of the Saxophone Club gathered at a $250-per-person fund-raiser in Washington D.C.

Lots of its members have government jobs. And that helps to explain a surprising new finding: The single biggest employer of Clinton campaign donors is the U.S. government.

That's one nugget that emerged from a study, commissioned by CNN and The Boston Globe, of people who gave $200 or more to the Clinton and Dole primary campaigns.

Federal government workers, according to our study, gave $361,415 to the Clinton campaign, but less than $77,758 to Dole. It's evidence of how differently the two parties view government.

"We don't go in for the mindless government-bashing that you sometimes see from the other side," says Ann Lewis of the Clinton/Gore campaign. Dole, in contrast, has promised to shut down entire departments.

Christina Martin of the Dole campaign explains the government worker contributions to Clinton another way.

"They're concerned about their future, their job security, and this is one means of trying to secure that," Martin said.

The contrast in money extends to government workers at the state and local level, too.

According to the CNN/Boston Globe study, they gave nearly a quarter-million dollars -- $241,160 -- to the Clinton campaign, with much of it coming from schoolteachers. But state and local government workers contributed just $95,290 to Dole.

But when it comes to business money, it's the similarities in what the candidates have collected that are striking. At the big accounting firm of Ernst & Young, employees gave $135,750 to Clinton, the third-biggest amount to him from any one employer. But Ernst employees also gave $103,400 to Dole, the most he got from a single company's workers.

Similar examples abound. At Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin's former Wall Street company, Goldman Sachs, the traders and stockbrokers managed to get $35,134 to Clinton, but even more, $43,500, to Dole.

At another Wall Street player, Merrill Lynch, they were bullish on the president's campaign, delivering $31,050, but even more so on Dole's campaign which collected $35,800.

Ken Gross, with the Skadden Arps law firm, is a lawyer for the Dole campaign. Gross and others at Skadden Arps gave $27,750 to Dole. But the same law firm gave even more -- $32,250 -- to Clinton.

Maybe it's because another Skadden Arps lawyer, Robert Bennett, is Clinton's personal attorney.

It's no secret why so many businesses give to both sides. "Bottom line, it's good for business," said Dole campaign spokeswoman Martin. "Most of these firms have contacts with the Republican side and with the Democrat side."

There are exceptions. Employees of Mirage Resorts, the big gambling casino company, gave $54,000 to Dole, but practically nothing to Clinton.

On the other hand, AT&T employees gave nearly $32,000 to Clinton, but practically nothing to Dole.

Still, to some observers, the lists of top donors to Clinton and Dole look far too much alike.

"The Republican Party and the Democratic Party start to look like one party, the money party," says Charles Lewis of the Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group. "And they get money from all of the same people and they start to sound the same on a lot of their policies."

The patterns are revealing: Strong government support for Clinton, and strong business support for both candidates, but somewhat stronger for Dole.

CNN and The Boston Globe contracted with the Campaign Study Group to perform this analysis. For more information on the joint effort, please visit the Globe Online.

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

Related Story:

• Part 1 of CNN/Globe Study: Big Gaps In Dole's Campaign Finance Records -- July 30, 1996

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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