Question about corporate donations...

[DireStrike]

I'm new to the whole "follow the money" ideology. Mostly because I felt that pretty much everybody was corrupt and I couldn't make a difference. Anyway, what I want to know is: why do corporations give to both parties? What does it even mean that a corporation donates? Is it CEOs? Employees?

[crispini]

1. People do need to specify what they're talking about.

Typically when people say "Company X" donates, they mean that Company X, as a corporate entity, has donated. However, oftentimes people look at the spending records of the owners / CEOs and use that to get a read on the tenor of the organziation. They might then use the shorthand of "Company X donates" to mean "Company X's CEO donates." I kind of disagree with this.

You can also look up individuals by employer (see www.opensecrets.org) but I don't really use this to judge the company as a whole. But, it can be kind of fun and if there are a lot of individuals leaning one way, it'll give you a pretty good idea of the overall company feel.

As to why corporations give to both parties? Easy: they're hedging their bet. Money does buy access, after all. And, IMO, some of them are smart -- they know that we're looking at this stuff and want to be perceived as fair. Just my two cents

(edited for spelling)