Subtle Hatchet Jobs -- How to read them

In Obama Campaign, Big Donors Are a Major Force



That's the front-page headline of an August 5th NY Times article by Michael Luo and Christopher Drew. For Obama supporters who thought campaign contributions were largely of the grass-roots variety, the headline intimates the opposite, clearly intending to make Obama fundraising look like the same old political game.

But in the first paragraph of that article we read "In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far.


But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama�s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size."

So what's happening here? The grass-roots, ground-swell of small donations for Obama is obviously true, but this article takes pains to side-step that incredible fact and to focus instead on an 'expose' of where the rest of the money is coming from.


Is it surprising that Obama has big-ticket supporters? Where did we think the other half was coming from, a secret gold mine in the Rockies?
Please remember (or learn) to read critically.

Click the title for a link to the article. (You'll get an ad first, so be patient)Look at the 'buts' and 'whiles' there, and continue to feel good about your $5 contribution. You're still important!