Open Left

Sources? (4.00 / 1)

Could I please see sources for the 6% and 44% numbers?  These both seem very high to me.  1.5 million Obama donors / ~300 million Americans = 0.5%.  I'd be very happy for my intuition to fail me on this.   Interesting post - thanks.

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by: Reframing the Debate @ Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 17:13:16 PM CDT

it does seem high (0.00 / 0)

Although I suppose all those Congressional and local donors might add up.  A lot of businesses feel obligated.  

I suppose we need to exclude people under 18 (about 25%) who are barred from donating, which would help.  

So that means we'd need 13.5 million unique donors to make it to 6%.  An average donation of $100 would imply over $1 billion raised already.

On further reflection, I doubt very much anyone could know.  Since donors who give small amounts are not publicly disclosed, they could easily be counted multiple times if anyone just adds them up.  On the other hand, if you ask people if they donate in a poll, I doubt the answer is very reliable (just as, for example, Church attendance is overstated.)

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

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by: Hopeful in NJ @ Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 18:09:37 PM CDT

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IIRC Minors (under 18) can contribute (0.00 / 0)

but the funds have to actually belong to them, and not just be a pass through for a parent or other adult - i.e. they had to have possession of the funds a reasonable amount of time before the donation, or has recently have gained them through earnings.

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by: Ugluks Flea @ Mon Jun 23, 2008 at 18:24:59 PM CDT

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