Some donors keep data to themselves

Some donors keep data to themselves

	Published : Thu, 31 May 2007 22:26 By : Agencies Print this Story

WASHINGTON (AP) - Anyone who has struggled with split ends or unruly hair knows who Vidal Sassoon is. The Barack Obama campaign had to ask.

The iconic hair stylist is among hundreds of political donors who provided incomplete information with their contributions to presidential candidates during the first three months of this year.

Of the $130 million raised in the first quarter, the campaigns collected $13 million from donors who failed to list their occupations and their employers as required by law, according to an analysis of campaign records by The Associated Press.

The campaigns are now obligated to ask, though they are not required to obtain the information. Under Federal Election Commission rules, they have 30 days to employ their 'best efforts' to secure complete reports.

Under federal law, any donor who contributes more than $200 must supply his or her name, address, occupation and employer. Overall, campaign finance officials and watchdog organizations say, campaign finance reporting is remarkably complete, with about 90 percent of reports containing all the required information.

On Thursday, the FEC expanded that 'best efforts' standard to other campaign reporting requirements, including the accuracy of the financial information and the timeliness of financial reports.

In this presidential cycle, Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, had the highest incidence of incomplete reports in the first quarter. Sassoon and his wife, Rhonda, who each gave $2,300, were two of them. Overall, about $3.7 million in Obama donations lacked a donor's occupation and employer. Obama raised $25 million in the first quarter.

Democrat John Edwards, who raised $14 million in the quarter, reported $1.8 million in contributions from donors who provided incomplete information. New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who raised $26 million in the quarter, had $2 million.

Among leading Republicans, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney each reported that they collected $1.4 million from donors with incomplete data. Arizona Sen. John McCain, who sought the Republican nomination in 2000, had among the most complete reports of all presidential candidates.

Employer and occupation data are important factors in identifying donors. Journalists, watchdog groups and rival campaigns use the data to identify industry support for different candidates, to recognize fundraising patterns and to help determine the motivations behind some political contributions.

That a donor such as Sassoon would require a letter seeking further information is not unusual.

But as Massie Ritsch of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics put it: 'If I write a $2,300 check to a candidate, I sure hope he knows who I am.'

In the end, many of those who fail to list their jobs never do.

'The statutory requirement is not that the campaigns get it, but that they showed us that they tried to get it,' said Robert Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission.

The 'best efforts' standard means that the campaigns must inform potential donors of the law's requirements. If donors do not supply the information, the campaigns must make a written or oral request within 30 days after receiving the contribution.

'The FEC has determined that the public should have access to this information,' Ritsch said. 'Simply knowing the name of who is giving to a candidate is not enough. You need to know what that person is about ... that can tell you a lot about why they are giving and what the candidate might do as a result.'