Obama’s swearing-in nets only $8,079 from Arkansas

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

WASHINGTON - To celebrate his second swearing-in as chief executive, President Barack Obama received tens of millions of dollars from thousands of donors nationwide. But only a handful of Arkansans contributed.

Of the $43 million in individual and corporate donations to Obama’s 2013 inauguration, $8,079.14 came from Arkansas, where only 11 people chipped in more than $200 each.

Obama’s inauguration committee received more than 12,000 separate contributions, but many individuals and corporations made several separate contributions, according to a tabulation of Federal Election Commission records conducted by the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington group that advocates more“openness and transparency” in the federal government, according to its website.

Bob Estes of Little Rock said he was glad to contribute. Estes, who as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention voted for Obama, donated $380. Of that, $120 covered two half-price tickets to the inaugural ball, Estes said - one for him and one for his wife, Jane.

Estes said he had a great time at the ball and caught a glimpse of the president from about 50 yards away.

“We could see him pretty well,” Estes said.

Estes said he donated because he thought that as a guest, he should help support the festivities. He and Jane went to Obama’s first inauguration. He said he had a much better time at the 2009 event, because the weather wasn’t as frigid and he stayed at a hotel closer to downtown Washington, D.C.

The other $200-plus contributors were: Abraham Carpenter of Grady, $1,000; Ledro Justice of Van Buren, $1,000; Irene Kathy Lee of Pine Bluff, $1,653.98; Clark Jennings of Little Rock, $1,225; Henry Hollins of Maumelle, $435.32; Zachary Polett of Little Rock, $1,205; Keena Wamble of Little Rock, $476; Mary Driver of Malvern, $1,283.32; Ashlyn Holeyfield of Little Rock, $605; and Krystal Thrailkill of Mena, $605.

The meager show of support from Arkansans for Obama’s second inauguration reflects his low popularity in the state. In 2012, Obama received 36.9 percent of the vote, compared with Republican challenger Mitt Romney, who received 60.6 percent.

“The reason so few Arkansans contributed to this effort is because so few Arkansansapprove of the president,” said David Ray, spokesman for the Republican Party of Arkansas.

The Federal Election Commission requires a president’s inaugural committee to report each contribution greater than $200. In 2009, Obama capped donations at $50,000 and declined to take any donations from lobbyists, corporations and political action committees.

Even so, Obama raised $52 million in inauguration contributions that year, an all-time record.

After his November 2012 election, Obama reversed course and eliminated the cap on contributions and accepted cash from corporations.

Unions and corporations accounted for $17.9 million of the money Obama’s committee collected this year, according to the Sunlight Foundation.

Corporate contributions included $4.6 million from AT&T, more than $2 million from Microsoft and $1 million each from Boeing and Chevron.

Combined, the corporate contributors have spent about $160 million on lobbying fees since 2009, according to Craig Holman, a lobbyist at Public Citizen, a liberal advocacy group in Washington.

“They all have business before the federal government,” he said. “They’re trying to buy favors.”

The contributions paid for Obama’s two official balls and other celebrations in Washington associated with his swearing-in. Holman said the business payments made the event inaccessible to the average citizen.

“When you’ve got corporate interests like that, the individual contributors from Arkansas, or anywhere elsefor that matter, aren’t going to make much of a difference,” he said.

Clark Jennings, who served as a special adviser to the Presidential Inaugural Committee, didn’t initially recall making his $1,225 contribution. That’s because the amount consisted of tickets he purchased for both the main inaugural ball and for a staff ball held the day after the inauguration for members of the inaugural committee, the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign.

Jennings, a Little Rock native, also worked on Obama’s re-election team and was director of operations at the Democratic National Convention in September.

“The inauguration was a capstone for all of those efforts,” he said. “A ton of people worked really hard to put it together.”

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 04/23/2013