Small Democratic donors have an online pal
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Ben Rahn and Matt DeBergalis aren't fat cats, and they don't operate from a smoke-filled room. But they funneled $17 million to Democratic candidates in 2006, making them among the largest political players in the country. They expect to handle a lot more in 2008.
Activists and entrepreneurs, they are writing the latest chapter in the Internet's transformation of political fundraising.
The concept of their venture, ActBlue, is simple. Most groups that raise money on the Internet take stands and endorse candidates, and urge their followers to e-mail money for the cause.
ActBlue (www.actblue.com) does not endorse. Rather, it's an online platform where anyone can send money to candidates of their choice, so long as they are Democrats.
It's the PayPal of political giving, and nearly all the gifts are less than $200. Now Republicans are copying it.
"We're trying to make political participation a normal part of people's lives," said Rahn, 30, who, with his partner, works in a musty office above a tavern here.
In a campaign expected to shatter all spending records, presidential hopefuls are racing across the country, lining up dinners at $2,300 a ticket -- the individual contribution limit -- and enlisting moguls from Hollywood to Wall Street to host million-dollar galas. Nominees will raise $500 million apiece, experts believe.
But increasingly, thanks to the Internet, federal campaign money comes in $10s and $20s.
"With the great amount of money being sought early this year by some high-profile presidential candidates," said Stephen Weissman of the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute in Washington, "we will have a better test than ever before of what the Internet can produce from small and other donors."
It's impossible to know the amount donated online. Laws don't require disclosure of donors' methods. But Internet donors tend to give less than $200, and amounts collected in small slices are rapidly growing.
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, raised 37% of his money in bites of $200 or less. Four years earlier, 20% of Vice President Al Gore's money came in increments of less than $200. In 2004, President Bush raised 31% of his money in slices of $200 or less, up from 16% in 2000.
In a study completed last year, the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University found that less than 10% of all campaign donors were younger than 35. But almost all young donors used the Internet to give.
