Story Created:
Apr 25, 2008 at 4:04 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Apr 30, 2008 at 10:05 PM EDT
Indiana will go a long way toward deciding who will be the Democratic nominee, but superdelegates could ultimately have the last word.
Both Sen. Hillary Clinton, D–New York, and Sen. Barack Obama, D–Illinois, have been trying to woo those superdelegates.
A report finds that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been giving money to candidates running for office. Rep. Joe Donnelly is one of those candidates.
According to analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics, Rep. Donnelly has received $2,500 from Obama's political action committee, Hopefund, this year. That's on top of $5,000 he received from Hopefund while he was running for office in 2006.
Sen. Clinton's political action committee, Hillipac, did not give any money to Rep. Donnelly in either of his campaigns, according to the analysis.
Hopefund has also donated to Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Evansville. Rep. Baron Hill of Seymour has received donations form both campaigns. All three have not announced who they will support for president.
The Center for Responsive Politics study found overwhelmingly the congressional candidates endorsed the presidential candidate that donated to them — with a few exceptions. Rep. Donnelly says Sen. Obama's financial support won't sway him.
“My vote will be influenced by who will make the best president for our country,” Rep. Donnelly said. “Who will stand up for working families and take country ahead into the future. And that's what it's all about; it's not about politics.”
One observer says at this stage of the campaign, the monetary support may not be that big of a deal.
“The remaining superdelegates are mainly going to be motivated by who's going to win, first of all,” said Peri Arnold, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. “You want to be with a winner after all, these are political creatures. I don't think he has a large debt to Obama because he's received that campaign donation.”
The study found Sen. Obama has given $710,900 to Democratic candidates the past three years, as compared to $236,100 donated by Sen. Clinton.
For more information, go to The Center for Responsive Politics.
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