Hillary donors also funding Jeb Bush
It's no secret that the super-rich hedge their bets when they contribute to candidates from both parties. Big banks, hedge fund managers, tycoons from all industries see these political donations as an investment, hoping that whoever is elected keeps the government off their backs.
But what do you suppose rank-and-file Republicans would think if they knew that many of the same mega-donors who gave to Hillary Clinton are also bankrolling the campaign of Jeb Bush?
More than 60 ultra-rich Americans have contributed to both Jeb Bush’s and Hillary Clinton’s federal campaigns, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by Vocativ and The Daily Beast. Seventeen of those contributors have gone one step further and opened their wallets to fund both Bush’s and Clinton’s 2016 ambitions.
After all, why support just Hillary Clinton or just Jeb Bush when you can hedge your bets and donate to both? This seems to be the thinking of a group of powerful men and women—racetrack owners, bankers, media barons, chicken magnates, hedge funders (and their spouses). Some of them have net worths that can eclipse the GDPs of small countries.
Larry Noble, senior counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, told The Daily Beast that it’s a common practice among a small number of people.
“Some of them will say they believe in the process, but the truth is you usually see them giving to people who will be most helpful to them if [the politician] gets into office,” he said. “They are not necessarily Republicans or Democrats, they are business people first.”
Some of them said personal connections are driving the double donations. Many work in industries that depend on the federal government for their continued operation. A few have had brushes with the law. One donor said he’s soured on Hillary, and is now on Team Jeb. Another claimed that he gave to Clinton by mistake.
John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, is a long-time—and promiscuous—political player. This year alone, his company spent half a million dollars lobbying Congress on everything from immigration reform and fuel taxes to food safety regulations. He himself has given $25,000 each to the political action committees supporting Clinton’s and Bush’s 2016 candidacies, according to the data parsed by Vocativ.
Of course, it's not illegal for someone to give to both parties, but I question those candidates who would accept such contributions. The donors are not interested in ideas or even issues, as much as they are hoping to establish some goodwill so in the event that the candidate is elected, their phone calls will be returned.