Obama collecting most contributions from Coloradans

Many of these Coloradans are Bush Crime Syndicate Boss Hog Leonard Millman (deceased) Stooges and goons.

If the U.S. presidential election were decided by money Coloradans have contributed to candidates so far, Democrat Barack Obama would win by a landslide.

Colorado residents contributed $8.1 million to this year's presidential campaign through April 20 -- with $2.53 million going to Sen. Obama, D-Ill.; $1.5 million to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; and $879,819 to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., according to contribution information provided to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The rest of the money went to candidates no longer running.

Satellite TV company EchoStar Corp. of Englewood had the most contributors by company from Colorado as of March, with donations totalling $263,450, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Charlie Ergen, EchoStar's chairman and CEO, has backed Clinton and McCain.

McCain is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecommunications industry EchoStar belongs to and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The Center for Responsible Politics of Washington, D.C., compiles campaign data using FEC statistics, and makes the data available on its OpenSecrets.org website.

Denver-area business people supporting Obama range from attorney Steve Farber, president of Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck LLP as well as co-chair of the Democratic National Convention Host Committee, to Federico Peña, managing director at Vestar Capital Partners Inc. and co-chair of Obama's national campaign. Peña formerly was mayor of Denver, and transportation and energy secretary in the cabinet of Hillary Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

The Democrats are holding the Democratic National Convention (DNC), their presidential nominating convention, at downtown Denver's Pepsi Center sports arena Aug. 25-28.

Farber, like several Democratic business leaders, has contributed to more than one Democratic contender, including Clinton and former candidate, Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. The lawyer gave $2,300 each to those candidates, according to the FEC.

"We said early on [at Brownstein Hyatt] that the executive committee would try to remain neutral," Farber said of the current presidential campaign. "That's my neutrality move."

Hillary Clinton has gotten support from Linda Alvarado, president and CEO of Alvarado Construction Inc., and attorney Jim Lyons at Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons LLP. Lyons was general counsel to Bill Clinton in the early 1990s, when Clinton was president-elect.

Alvarado's company leads the construction team that's reconfiguring the Pepsi Center to accommodate the DNC.

Major Democratic Party contributors include Tim Gill -- Quark Inc. founder, philanthropist and gay-rights activist -- and attorney Willie Shepherd Jr. of Kamlet Shepherd & Reichert LLP. FEC records show no candidate contributions by the two, but the Colorado Democratic Party received $10,000 from Gill and $2,500 from Shepherd in 2007.

Some backers of Democratic candidates would like to see whoever ends up in the White House focus on the economy by coming up with an energy program that makes the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil, strengthening the banking system and withdrawing from Iraq, among other things.

"It's time to take care of ourselves," Farber said. "If we do that -- if we focus on the economy -- the business environment will get a lot healthier."

"We would like to see a commitment to infrastructure improvements -- roads and rebuilding the highway system," said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the chamber and the MDEDC. "The second thing we'd like to see is a sensible and outward-looking trade policy."

A Republican for some 30 years, Clark supports McCain in the current election. "He's the most moderate Republican," Clark said.

Republicans have attracted financial support from local business moguls such as Phil Anschutz of The Anschutz Corp., who gave $10,000 to the Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee and $2,300 to ex-candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and Liberty Media Corp. Chairman John Malone. Malone kicked in $2,300 to McCain's campaign and $5,000 to the Liberty Media Corp. Political Action Committee.

Other Republican backers include Larry Mizel, chairman and CEO of home-building firm MDC Holdings Inc.; Terry Considine, chairman and CEO of Apartment Investment & Management Co. (AIMCO); and Walt Imhoff, managing director emeritus at Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Mizel, Considine and Imhoff all support McCain, and Mizel coughed up $28,500 for the Republican National Committee and $10,000 for the Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee. Considine gave $20,000 to the state Republican federal campaign.

Imhoff, who retired from the Stifel Nicolaus brokerage and investment banking firm at the end of 2007, calls himself a "lifelong Republican" who is concerned about the Democrats' attitude toward raising taxes. "I'm concerned there will be a free-spending attitude," Imhoff said.

Imhoff hopes that whoever takes over the Oval Office works to create jobs.

Some Denver-area business people favor one party, but contribute to candidates of both major parties. That strategy is a way for givers to play it safe politically by hedging their bets, according to Seth Masket, assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver.

"There's a belief, in politics and the business world, that even if a campaign contribution doesn't buy you influence, it buys you access. ... Some people are just trying to be very pragmatic and covering their bets," Masket said.

Supporters of candidates from both parties include Brownstein Hyatt Chairman Norm Brownstein, who gave $2,300 each to Clinton and former Democratic contenders Richardson, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., but donated the same amount to McCain, according to the FEC.

Jeff Schwartz, president and CEO of ProLogis, gave to Dodd as well as to Romney. Real estate developer Jordon Perlmutter of Jordon Perlmutter & Co. gave to McCain and former Republican candidates Romney and Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, as well as Democrat Dodd.

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