Today, presidential hopeful John Kerry came
to California to kick off a multi-state
fundraising tour. He's in Northern California
today and comes to the southland tomorrow.
President Bush, of course, has been here
before, fundraising, and there's little doubt
he'll be back to raise more money. If you've
ever wondered who gives and how much, that
information is out there and as we'll show you,
it's easier to get than you might think.
In the world of politics money talks louder
than almost anything else. Especially come
election time. President Bush is rumored to
already have a war-chest of 100 million dollars
for his re-election campaign. And challenger
John Kerry is raising more money every day.
Where does it all come from? Much of it is
donated by folks across the country and right
here in the desert. Residents in Indian Wells
for instance have given tens of thousands of
dollars to Mr. Bush. How do we know? Well it
says so right here on this http://www.fundrace.org/.
All you have to do is type in your address,
we'll use the station address, your zip code and
up pops a list of all your neighbors who have
ponied up for politics how much they gave and
who they gave to. Now this is all public
information but ask the public how they feel
about it and you hear vastly different
things.
“So you can just look this up on the
internet?”
“You gotta be kidding me? It's right on
line?”
“What's the web site?”
“It's a personal issue that you want to give
why should other people know about it?”
“That's a huge intrusion.”
“I think it's a good thing.”
“Oh boy this is neat.”
“Let's see if there are any dems in Indian
Wells, that'd be fun.”
Dr. Bill Gudelunes teaches political science
at College of the Desert.”
“George Bush, George Bush, George Bush. I
think Bush might just carry Indian Wells in this
election, what do you think?”
Any donation to a presidential campaign is
public record, but Gudelunes says when it's this
public it can be a problem.
“I just think if I were in this situation,
it'd make me a little more hesitant to
give.”
“I don't like it at all. I will have second
thoughts about donating.”
“It would impair any thoughts I had of
contributing.”
But the fact is this is the digital age and
that means a wealth of information is right at
your fingertips, like it or not.
“That's the internet.”
Again, that site is http://www.fundrace.org/.
