Kerry and Bush "Career Patrons"

This is shooting fish in a barrel, but in case anyone was wondering, here's a little context on the claim soon to appear in a Bush reelection ad that Senator Kerrey is "brought to you by the special interests."

The Center for Public Integrity, which has produced The Buying of the President in each of the last three elections has developed a useful way of looking at politicians in terms of their "career patrons," individuals or organizations or corporations that have bankrolled them consistently. For corporations, law firms, etc, it includes personal contributions from employees/partners. Here are Bush and Kerrey's career patrons, including contributors to the current presidential campaigns through December 31. Note that Bush's cover four elections over ten years; Kerry's five elections over twenty years.

Bush career:

Enron Corp.	$602,625
MBNA Corp.	$597,041
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.	$564,404
Pricewaterhouse Coopers	$485,448
Vinson & Elkins	$476,400
UBS AG Inc	$474,300
Credit Suisse First Boston	$472,650
Goldman Sachs Group	$409,449
Bass Brothers Enterprises	$397,427
Ernst & Young LLP	$384,154

Kerry career:

Organization	Total
Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo	$232,736
FleetBoston Financial Corp.	$183,037
Time Warner	$145,435
Hale and Dorr LLP	$129,858
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom	$125,550
Harvard University	$124,250
Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos Inc.	$122,300
Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand/Piper Rudnick	$121,550
Citigroup	$116,656
Goldman Sachs Group	$110,600

These lists speak for themselves. It's worth noting that Bush's tenth biggest patron gave a good deal more than Kerry's number one.