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When DBKP first reported on August 25 that the Edwards campaign had quietly refunded almost $4 million in campaign contributions to big donors and bundlers, leaving little campaign contributors, or shallow pocket voters, out in the cold, the response by some was “so what” or “big deal”. Others pointed out that, by law, once a candidate drops out of a Presidential primary election the campaign has to refund all contributions earmarked for the General election. So we decided to dig a “little deeper” and find out more about the role shallow pocket voters played in the Edwards campaign. We also looked at Federal Election campaign laws and at the refunds themselves to determine whether the Edwards campaign returned an individual contribution “by law”or whether the refund was
discretionary. Even we were surprised by what we found.

“Edwards was supposed to be for the little guy, but he cheated the little guy. We got stiffed” said one source who contacted DBKP.

Small Change, Big Change

According to Fox News, more than “100,000 individuals” contributed less than $100 in the first six months of 2007, or 93% of all donations to the Edwards campaign for President:

The Edwards’ campaign has repeatedly pointed to the small donations it has collected from shallow-pocket voters and $15 fundraising events dubbed “Small Change for Big Change.” In announcing their updated fundraising numbers at the beginning of July, Edwards’ campaign advisers said more than 100,000 individuals had donated in the first six months of 2007 and that 93 percent of all donations were less than $100.
–Fox News - Deep Pocketed Lawyers Still

Bankrolling John Edwards

March, 2007, “Shame on you, Ann Coulter
–John Edwards 08 Campaign website

“Friday afternoon, Republican mouthpiece Ann Coulter brought hate-speech politics to a new low. This video shows Coulter addressing the American Conservative Union’s Political Action Conference, March, 2, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

We must show that inflaming prejudice to attack progressive leaders will only backfire.

Can you help us raise $100,000 in “Coulter Cash” this week to keep this campaign charging ahead and fight back against the politics of bigotry?”

Select a Contribution Amount
$25 $50 $100 $250 $1,000 $2,300 $4,600 $ Other
–John Edwards 08

June 10, 2007, John Edwards’ 54th Birthday
–John Edwards 08 Campaign website

This Sunday is John’s 54th birthday, and Elizabeth and his mother Bobbie are working on a gift that only all of you can give: 10,000 people stepping forward to support the campaign by Sunday.

Over 4,000 of you have already contributed. We’re nearly halfway there! If you haven’t contributed yet, now’s the time to support John’s campaign and make sure we have the resources we need to win.
–John Edwards for President

“John Edwards marked his 54th birthday with a big bash. The backyard barbecue wasn’t the usual - $1,000-a-plate events the candidates usually attend. The party was held at the Best Western University Inn in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the state where Edwards was a former senator.

The fee for entry was just $15. Edwards told the crowd that he needs voters to mobilize to create change.”
–John Edwards Reaches Out on Birthday

We contacted the FEC for more info on Federal campaign election laws pertaining to the Presidential election. It’s true, by law a candidate that drops out during the primary election has to refund all contributions earmarked for the General election. Contributions designated for the Primary election, or were “undesignated” but contributed during the Primary election, those refunds are up to the “discretion” of the campaign. So we decided to go back and check each and every one of the over 2,000 contributions refunded by the Edwards campaign in order to answer the question: How many of the refunds were up to the discretion of the Edwards campaign and how many had to be returned by law?

According to the FEC, contributions of $200 or less do not have to be itemized by campaigns. Campaigns are allowed to accept “anonymous” contributions of $50
or under in cash.

Here’s the “big deal” pertaining to the “little donors” who gave to the Edwards campaign: out of the $35,142,951 contributed to the Edwards campaign by individuals, 41%, or $14,360,761, were from people who donated $200 or less. Yet the percentage of those donors who received a refund was less than 1%.

That’s right, out of the millions of dollars contributed to the Edwards campaign by the “little guy”, or shallow pocket voters, less than 1% was given back. Who got the other 99% of the refunds? Edwards’ big donors: bundlers, attorneys, professionals, celebrities, and multi-millionaires such as Edwards’ National Campaign Finance Chairman Fred Baron as well as members of his family.

William Lerach was one of Edwards’ top bundlers. Lerach, plus members of his family and his law firm, Lerach Coughlin, raised almost $76,000 in the first half of 2007, got his money back on March 24, even though he was sentenced to serve two years in prison on February 11, 2008. Lerach entered a plea deal after being charged with a kickback scheme that purportedly netted his old firm, Milberg Weiss, $200 million.
–DBKP - Edwards Campaign Quietly

Refunds Contributions to Bundlers, Big Backers

Another Edwards big donor who received his campaign contribution refund was Thomas Girardi, the “Billion Dollar Gentleman” civil trial attorney:

Thomas Girardi was named the “The Billion Dollar Gentleman” by the L.A. Daily Journal for $1 billion in verdicts and settlements over a two-year period. According to Opensecrets.org, Girardi’s firm, Girardi and Keese, donated $43,000 to Edwards’ campaign. Thomas Girardi, the founder of the firm, received his Edwards’ refund check as well as members of his family.

John O’Quinn, Texas trial lawyer and king of Tobacco and Silicon Breast Implant Civil Lawsuits, whose net worth is in the multi-millions, received his $2300 refund from the Edwards’ campaign. O’Quinn held an Edwards “grassroots” fundraiser in Austin, Texas, in June of 2007, for the “little” people who could give only “$15? to Edward’s campaign. The fundraiser was called “Small Change for Big Change”.

One of the “bundlers” for Edwards, attorney Stephen Leeds of Atlanta, Georgia, received a refund of $2300 on March 24, 2008. On July 1, Leeds contributed $5000 to the Barack Obama Victory Fund.

Some correctly pointed out that by law once a candidate drops out of the primary election, such as John Edwards, that all contributions that were earmarked for the General election have to be refunded. We said, “fair enough” and then decided to do a “little” more research. We wanted to find out which election, primary or general, the Edwards campaign designated the refund to.

We cross-referenced the 2,247 refunds and contributors listed on the site, Open Secrets.org to another site, Newsmeat in order to verify which designation the Edwards campaign had used in refunding a contribution, either General or Primary. NewsMeat had copies of the actual Itemized Disbursement Form or Schedule B (FEC Form 3P), for each refund, filled out and submitted by the Edwards campaign to the FEC.

Of the over 2,000 Disbursement Forms filed by the Edwards campaign with the FEC, the total amount of refunds that were designated for the General election were 0%.

That’s right, according to the forms filed with the FEC by the Edwards campaign, not one single refund was from the “have to refund by law General election contributions”, 100% of the refunds were designated on the FEC form by the Edwards campaign as “Primary” election refunds. In other words, every single refund given out by the Edwards campaign, totaling almost $4 million, were up to the “discretion” of the Edwards campaign.

Here’s how it breaks down:

* The Edwards’ campaign received a total of $35,142,951 in contributions from individuals.

* Amount of contributions of $200 or less = $14,360,761 or 41% of the total amount, $35,142,951

* Total number of refunds: 2,247

* Total number of refunds $200 or less: 267

* Total amount of refunds: $3,831,398

* Total amount of refunds $200 or less: $29,307 or less than 1%

* 100% of the refunds were “primary election” contributions which were “discretionary”. (Federal campaign law mandates that once a candidate drops out of the primary election cycle he has to return all contributions that were earmarked by donors as going to the General Election)

While 99% of those who received the almost $4 million in “discretionary” refunds by the Edwards campaign were contributors such as Edwards’ National Campaign Finance Chairman Fred Baron and members of his family, the shallow pocket donors, those who contributed less than $200 who received refunds was less than one percent.

Some shallow pocket contributors were upset after Edwards admitted on August 8 on ABC’s Nightline that he had an affair while running for President. The general consenus was that the shallow pocket voters were solicited by Edwards for campaign funds under false pretenses, as Edwards had campaigned on a platform of “moral leadership” and “family values” while simultaneously having an affair.

DBKP attempted to contact the Edwards campaign by phone and in person. We were unable to reach a “live” contact when calling, instead we got a recording instructing us to “send” an email. When we visited the Edwards campaign office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in person, during normal business hours, the doors were locked, the offices empty.

We were unable to query the Edwards campaign as to what “formula” they used in deciding which contributor received a refund, or whether the contributor had simply requested one. We also wanted to know why 1% of the almost $4 million in refunds were $200 or less when, in the first six months of 2007, 90% of contributions were from the shallow pocket donors who gave a donation of less than $100.

Fred Baron, Edwards’ National Campaign Finance Chairman, along with members of his family, received refunds of their $2300 contributions as well as a large portion of Edwards campaign bundlers and big backers. The shallow pocket voters, whom the Edwards campaign vigorously courted, and who ended up contributing 41% of the total individual donations, were left out in the cold when the campaign gave back almost $4 million in discretionary refunds.

Shallow pocket voters, who were angry when Edwards admitted this August that he had engaged in an affair while campaigning for President, have contacted DBKP and asked how they too could get their hard earned money back. For those who claim the refunds are “not a big deal”, we say $14 million from small donors isn’t chump change, especially in regards to the fact that the Edwards campaign platform was based on “poverty issues”. When it came time to “giving” back to voters, the Edwards campaign opted to return contributions to those who own private jets versus the little guy who most likely has never traveled on one.

June 12, 2007

“What can you get for $15 these days? A couple of pizzas. A DVD. A bus ticket from Austin to Dallas. Today, for $15, you can help this campaign change America.

Thursday’s big event at Scholz Garen is filling up and we want to be sure all of you have an opportunity to meet and greet John Edwards while he’s in the Austin area.

You shouldn’t need to fork over $2,300 to meet a presidential candidate. You shouldn’t need a paycheck with nine zeroes in it to rub elbows with a fellow

American. And Tuesday, John Edwards has made sure you don’t. All you need to join us is your energy, support, enthusiasm, and enough pocket change for a bus ticket.”
–Small Change for Big Change - John Edwards in Austin

John Edwards not only cheated on his wife and family when he had an affair but his campaign cheated his main supporters, the shallow pocket voters. They got a pecan pie recipe or the “chance” to wish Edwards a “happy birthday” for $15, or to pay another $15 to “rub shoulders” with John Edwards. It was his “core” constituency: the trial attorneys, their family members, big backers, and bundlers, that in the end, Edwards remained “faithful” to.

By LBG

Source - wbko - John Edwards Reaches out on his birthday
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/7938997.html

Source - John Edwards 08 - Shame on you, Ann Coulter