Thanks to organizations like OpenSecrets.org we can easily identify political contribution patterns – exactly the kind of transparency touted so often by Longmont’s conservative faction.
I did a search for the name ‘Lehman’ in ‘Longmont’ – the results are summarized as follows.
The data goes back to November 1989.
The chart below shows totals from 1996 forward – does it look to you like perhaps the owner of the Times-Call really wanted George W. Bush to win? Sure does to me. Interesting that the largesse dropped off sharply and hasn’t ascended those heights since, one has to wonder why.
| Year | Amount |  |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | $10,450 | |
| 1997 | $850 | |
| 1998 | $6,650 | |
| 1999 | $3,000 | |
| 2000 | $9,451 | |
| 2001 | $2,700 | |
| 2002 | $11,915 | |
| 2003 | $14,251 | |
| 2004 | $53,100 | |
| 2005 | $14,790 | |
| 2006 | $17,690 | |
| 2007 | $4,250 | |
| 2008 | $10,700 |
Interesting collection of ’causes’ – lots and lots of money to the national GOP but not nearly so much to the state organization, apparently Mr. Wadhams isn’t quite as charismatic as some would believe (or pray).
| Organization | Total |
|---|---|
| Colorado Republican Campaign Cmte | $30,450 |
| Republican National Cmte (R) | $27,100 |
| National Republican = Congressional Cmte (R) | $19,707 |
| New Republican Majority Fund (R) | $6,000 |
| National Republican Senatorial Cmte (R) | $3,480 |
| Volunteer PAC (R) | $2,000 |
| Its My Party Too PAC | $1,750 |
| Stop Union Political Abuse | $1,100 |
| RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte | $1,000 |
| Republican Central Cmte of South Dakota (R) | $1,000 |
| National Right to Work Cmte | $1,000 |
| CRC Victory ’90 | $1,000 |
| ConAgra Inc | $300 |
| Heartland Values PAC (R) | $250 |
| American Conservative Union | $250 |
| Conservative Leadership PAC | $200 |
| Total donations to GOP causes 1989-2008 | $96,587 |
They say you can judge a person by the company they keep – the following table highlights some of the candidate contributions from 1989 to 2008.
Wow, the Lehmans really love them some Tancredo… and Bush… (in that order too, sorry Dubya…) but not so much ‘Both Ways Bob‘ Beauprez… or Marilyn Musgrave – and look how far down you have to go to find the ‘Maverick.’ OUCH – that says volumes about the lack of confidence. All in all it’s a whos-who of the Republican party, right down to ‘wide stance’ Larry Craig (no one was more shocked than I!)
Apparently the Times-Call ownership never (ever) met a GOP candidate they didn’t like. This well apparently never runs dry.
There are some Democratic candidates in the data – Jay Fawcett and Mark Udall, each getting a whopping $250… once.
Kind of a tiny fig leaf in my opinion… but perhaps adequate.
| Candidate | Total |
|---|---|
| Tancredo, Tom (R) | $9,500 |
| Bush, George W (R) | $8,000 |
| Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R) | $6,400 |
| Robinson, Shannon A (R) | $6,000 |
| Beauprez, Bob (R) | $4,750 |
| Thune, John (R) | $4,500 |
| Brown, Hank (R) | $4,400 |
| Allard, Wayne (R) | $4,110 |
| Musgrave, Marilyn (R) | $4,000 |
| Schaffer, Bob (R) | $3,250 |
| Greenlee, Robert D (R) | $2,900 |
| O’Donnell, Rick (R) | $2,750 |
| Coffman, Mike (R) | $2,500 |
| Hume, Sandy (R) | $2,200 |
| Lazio, Rick A (R) | $2,000 |
| Dole, Elizabeth (R) | $1,950 |
| Romney, Mitt (R) | $1,750 |
| Bush, George (R) | $1,500 |
| McInnis, Scott (R) | $1,500 |
| Giuliani, Rudolph W (R) | $1,250 |
| Chase, Ken (R) | $1,000 |
| Federer, Bill (R) | $950 |
| Walcher, Greg (R) | $800 |
| Coors, Peter (R) | $750 |
| McCain, John (R) | $750 |
| Dole, Bob (R) | $750 |
| Considine, Terrence M (R) | $750 |
| Cox, Carolyn S (R) | $500 |
| Craig, Larry (R) | $500 |
| Tipton, Scott (R) | $500 |
| Burr, Richard (R) | $500 |
| Norton, Gale Ann (R) | $350 |
| Fawcett, Jay (D) | $250 |
| Klayman, Larry E (R) | $250 |
| Kyl, Jon (R) | $250 |
| Rippy, Gregg (R) | $250 |
| Santorum, Rick (R) | $250 |
| Sununu, John E (R) | $250 |
| Udall, Mark (D) | $250 |
| Vitter, David (R) | $250 |
| Pirro, Jeanine (R) | $200 |
| Total donations to GOP candidates 1989-2008 | $85,260 |
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