Doyle's Out-of-State Checks

Money, money, money.

Campaign finance reports for the Wisconsin gubernatorial candidates were filed yesterday.

Check them out.
Jim Doyle

Mark Green

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Reports filed Tuesday showed that Republican challenger Mark Green raised more than twice what Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle did in recent weeks and that Green has about $280,000 less than Doyle in the bank for the final months.

That compares with a $2 million gap when the last reports, covering the first half of the year, were filed in late July.

The reports filed Tuesday showed that Green raised nearly $1.39 million in the eight-week period ending Aug. 28, compared with Doyle's $494,000.

That suggests increasing fund-raising momentum for Green in the race, considered one of the most competitive in the nation and expected to be the most expensive in state history.

...In a statement, Green said that two-thirds of his donations were for $100 or less and that 97% of it came from Wisconsin givers.

So all of that money that Doyle and his minions spent on ads during the summer, brutally attacking Green, appears to have been wasted as far as fund-raising is concerned.

Mark Graul, Green's campaign manager, said it was significant that the Republican doubled the Democratic incumbent's campaign income over the summer.

"What I'm seeing in these numbers is that, by almost a 3-to-1 margin, we raised more money than the governor did, while at the same time he was running those attack ads," Graul said. "We started our TV ads a month after the governor did.

"Clearly, momentum is on Mark Green's side," he said. "I know that we're going to have the funds we need to run a competitive campaign."

Green began running his second TV ad of the campaign on Tuesday, about the jobs and tax climate under Doyle.

The Doyle side pointed to the Elections Board ruling and a July visit for Green by President Bush, saying that the money involved in both show Green to be a tool of special interests.

Green is not a "tool of special interests."

Doyle is the tool.

The fact that 97% of Green's donations came from Wisconsin and were in the amount of $100 or less stands in stark contrast with Doyle's stable of donors.

Even though the overwhelming majority of Green's donations are in-state and not big money, the Doyle campaign continues to unfairly paint Green as indebted to big money donors.

That's false.

It's Doyle. He's getting a sizable amount of his money from outside of Wisconsin, not Green.



Click to enlarge image.
Look at the map.

A check mark indicates that Jim Doyle received a check (or cash) from someone in that state.

Each donor, listed by Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, contributed $100 or more to Doyle's war chest.

There are 893 individual contributions totaling around $1.24 million, coming from 36 states plus the District of Columbia.

Doyle is a popular guy, isn't he?

Yes, people all over the country care about getting Doyle elected.

He's nobody's governor but theirs.
_______________________________

As promised, it's time to shine the spotlight on another one of Doyle's friends.

DOYLE DISTANT DONOR OF THE DAY
Ann Howland Doerr

 She's from Woodside, California. Her occupation is listed as "homemaker."

Mrs. Doerr gave Doyle the maximum yearly contribution allowable by law -- $10,000.

Who is Mrs. Doerr?

Google.

What comes up?

The first search result is The Motherjones 400.

The Mother Jones 400 reveals the nation's top contributors -- and what they expect in return.

Doerr is one rich homemaker.

I don't think she's the type of homemaker that spends much of her day doing work around the house. I'd be surprised if Mrs. Doerr clips coupons. Of course, I don't know. It's just a guess.

Read her campaign contribution history on CampaignMoney.com.

In the 2006 election cycle, Ann Doerr has made 17 contributions, totaling $62,900.

$10,000 of that was given to Jim Doyle.

How can this California "homemaker" afford to hand over $10,000 to a Wisconsin candidate?

She's married to L. John Doerr, one of the top technology venture capitalists in the world. Forbes estimates his net worth to be over $1 billion.

That might be a factor.