Employees of Syracuse University are making their contributions to democracy this presidential election cycle—to the tune of at least $19,000.
And 32 of at least 35 contributions made by employees of Syracuse since Jan. 1, 2007, have gone to Democratic presidential candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Going by the numbers, that makes SU like the rest of the education industry — generally Democratic.
“The education industry is Democratic as the oil industry is Republican,” said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics. The Center is a non-partisan, non-profit research group in Washington, D.C., that tracks political donations and analyzes its effects on elections and public policy.
So far in the 2008 presidential campaign, 75 percent of donations from educators nationally have gone to Democratic candidates, according to the Center’s Web site. The field is ranked tenth out of 80 tracked industries, contributing almost $18 million so far.
“Democrats can count on money from college professors and other educators,” Ritsch said.
For Syracuse University, here’s a breakdown of contributions since January 2007 from employees to the 2008 presidential candidates:
- $8,850 went to Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) from 17 individual donations.
- $7,500 went to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) from 13 individual donations.
- $500 went to Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) from two individual donations.
- $250 went to Republican Mitt Romney from one donation.
- $250 went to Gov. Bill Richardson (D.-N.M.) from one donation.
- $200 went to John Edwards from one donation.
An additional $1,800 went to the Democratic National Committee from two donors in three separate contributions.
David Murray, an assistant dean of advancement at SU, became a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Jan. 3 after the Iowa caucus. Obama’s victory in Iowa inspired him to donate $500 to Obama’s campaign the next day. He continues to support Obama, remaining particularly impressed after listening to a speech the candidate gave about race.
“His speech on race was the first in my lifetime that anyone had talked about race to the American public as if we were adults,” Murray said.
Rosemary O’Leary, a professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is one of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s top supporters at SU with a donation of $1,000 in November 2007. It’s the largest donation she’s ever made to a candidate, she said.
O’Leary’s a registered Democrat. But she doesn’t support candidates along party lines, she said. She votes, she said, for the person she thinks is best for the job. In this election, that’s Clinton.
“I support her because she’s already smashed the first-lady stereotype,” O’Leary said in an e-mail interview. “I believe she will continue to make history not only as the first U.S. woman president, but as a great U.S. president.”
Edward Russell, an advertising professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and registered independent, gave $250 to Richardson of New Mexico in March 2007. Now he considers his donation a waste of money. Richardson dropped out of the race Jan. 10 date after a poor showing in the early primaries and caucuses.
Russell had never contributed to a presidential campaign before. But when Richardson threw his hat into the ring, Russell said, he initially felt he found the candidate to back.
But when Richardson made a comment about his position on the Iraq war that was different than what Russell understood his position to be, Russell was completely turned off.
“It struck me as pandering for votes,” Russell said. “Completely irresponsible, something like an ‘I’d pull (the troops) all out tomorrow’ comment. It was a change from what he’d said earlier, and I thought it was terribly irresponsible for a country that’s caused so many issues.”
He may donate again, Russell said. And he’s glad he made the contribution for personal reasons. But, said Russell, this time he was throwing his money away. “I’d rather give it to some homeless guy standing on the street,” he said.
He’s shocked by the quantity of money that goes into presidential campaigns, Russell said. “When it gets down to whoever raises the most money wins,” he said. “That’s just wrong.”
This election season, presidential fundraising has shattered records with more than $800 million raised so far. A projected $500 million more will be raised once the nominees for each party are in place, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The cost of presidential campaigns has been skyrocketing, according to the Center. And so has the money donated by the education industry.
In the 2000 presidential race, for example, the presidential race cost $528.9 million.. The education industry totaled more than $16.7 million of the donations. The industry was the 26th highest donor of the 122 industries tracked by the Center for Responsive Politics.
By the 2004 election, the cost had skyrocketed to $880.5 million. And the education industry had jumped into the top-ten givers. It chipped in $37 million, making it No. 8 on the Center’s list of industries.
For educators, said Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics, their donations look as if they “almost universally shared the singular goal of getting George Bush out of the White House.”
So far in 2008, the presidential campaign has racked up $791.8 million. And education employees gave $17.9 million, moving the industry to the 10th position.
In this election, the assistant SU dean Murray, a registered Democrat, is passionate about Obama’s personality, intellect and perspective on the world. He has donated to other political campaigns and to charities, Murray said. But this time, it’s different.”
“Those donations were more out of duty or intellectual desire,” said Murray, “rather than out of passion.”
(Melissa Daniels is a junior newspaper journalism major.)
A version of this story ran in The Daily Orange on April 11, 2008.
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