Font ResizeTom Wolf's change of heart isn't listed on the Federal Election Commission Web site. At least, not yet.
But you can see where Wolf, York County resident and Pennsylvania secretary of revenue, stood on the Pennsylvania primary about a year ago.
Sometime in the intervening months, Wolf said, he decided that Barack Obama would make a better presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. So in late March or early April, he contributed $2,300 to Obama's campaign.
Which isn't to say that he considers the expenditure on Clinton to be wasted.
"I still think she'd be a great candidate," Wolf said. "If she turns out to be the Democratic nominee, I'd have no problem supporting her at all."
The Federal Election Commission's listing of campaign contributions shows thousands of dollars from York County going to different campaigns, and includes contributors who gave the $2,300 limit to Obama, Clinton, or presumptive Republican candidate John McCain.
From the results posted on the
site so far, Obama has more contributors who gave to his campaign in small increments -- $50 or less.
Political scientist Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College said that would be consistent for the race as a whole.
Obama, Madonna said, has shown a remarkable ability to get small contributions from rank-and-file party members who wouldn't make anybody's list of big donors, but whose cumulative contributions add up to a lot.
Obama received 149 contributions of $50 or less totaling $4,939, according to the FEC listings. But Clinton and McCain's FEC filings also show plenty of county residents contributing to the tune of $25 or $50 at a time. Clinton had 97 contributions of $50 or less, totaling $3,275. McCain had 78 worth $2,081.
Madonna said that presidential campaigns are in the process of changing their traditional fundraising tactics. One agent for those changes is the Internet, which gives campaigns more direct access to potential donors than ever before. Another is a 2002 law co-sponsored by McCain himself that eliminated some funding sources for federal campaigns. For example, the law places federal limits on the "soft money" that goes to a national party rather than directly to a candidate.
Under federal law, corporations, labor unions or any other incorporated entities can't give directly to a campaign, according to Ed Davis, director of research for nonpartisan campaign reform group Common Cause.
Those corporations or unions, like any group or individual with an axe to grind, can still form Political Action Committees, which are subject to a different set of regulations. Campaign law has more nuances and attendant controversies as well, but the individual contributions of the kind listed on the FEC site are still the backbone of presidential campaigns these days.
Some donors made their contributions in one lump sum of three or four digits. But far more gave in smaller increments, on one or multiple occasions.
Penny Moore of Lewisberry was surprised to learn that the contributions she and he husband, Homer, have been giving to the Hillary Clinton campaign since July have totaled $1,085.
Their biggest contribution was $180, and most have been in the $25-to-$60 range.
Moore remarked that she and her husband, both retirees, are the prototypical Clinton supporters, as opposed to the younger Democrats who have tended to rally around Obama.
Moore said she doesn't regret donating the money. As of Wednesday evening, however, she was convinced that the tide was turning against Clinton, and she resented what she considered to be the Democratic Party leadership's betrayal of her candidate.
If Obama does end up running against McCain, Moore was thinking she might end up just putting in a write-in for Clinton to register her discontent and leaving it at that.
"The Democratic Party has really messed with her," Moore said.
Though the Democratic campaign has proven far more dramatic, McCain has collected his share of contributions in this Republican-dominated county.
Richard Evans of York knows that some Republicans see McCain as a compromise, but he's been a fan of the Arizona senator going on 10 years now. Since September, Evans has contributed $2,090 to McCain's campaign.
Evans believes that McCain's conservatism on financial and defense issues, combined with his relatively moderate stance on social issues, are what it will take to win the general election in November. Political necessity aside, he also believes that McCain's policies are the best for the country.
So as far as he's concerned, that $2,090 was money well spent.
"When push comes to shove, I have a great deal of respect for him and I trust him completely," Evans said.
DONATIONS
The following people from York County contributed $1,000 or more to a presidential campaign as of Wednesday, according to the Federal Election Commission. It might have been in the form of a single contribution or a number of smaller ones over a period of months.
John McCain
Peter Brubaker, York: $1,500
Norman Callahan, York: $2,100
Richard Evans, York: $2,090
Lawrence Guzzardi, York: $1,000
George Fischer, Lewisberry: $1,000
Erwin Huber, Glen Rock: $2,300
Frances Huber, Glen Rock: $2,300
Patricia Ward, Seven Valleys: $1,000
Barack Obama
Michael Boustead, York: $1,000
Donald Graham, York: $1,000
Elizabeth Johnson, York: $1,100
Nicholas Kurika, York: $1,300
Jeffrey Lander, York: $1,036
Michael Smith, York: $2,300
Susan Ellison, Hanover: $1,570
Philip Rotz, York Springs: $1,228
Andre Vaughn, Dallastown: $2,300
Russell Williams, Hanover: $2,300
Hillary Clinton
Patricia Cooney, York: $1,000
Stephen Stetler, York: $1,000
Genevieve Broyles, Glen Rock: $1,005
Christine Gunarish, Dover: $2,300
Homer Moore, Lewisberry: $1,085
Thomas Wolf, Mt. Wolf: $2,300
Anne Miller, Dillsburg: $2,300
Thomas G. Miller, Dillsburg: $1,000
Thomas R. Miller, Dillsburg: $2,300
See who in York and Adams counties has contributed to the presidential campaigns.
