Leading Candidates Take Little Tobacco Money May 7, 2008
News Summary
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken more money from the tobacco industry than presidential rivals Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain, but industry donations to all three campaigns have been relatively small, the Los Angeles Times reported May 5.
Clinton has taken $46,300 from tobacco industry executives and employees, while McCain has taken $27,400 and Obama has taken $22,000.
McCain is a cancer survivor, while Obama has engaged in a public battle to quit smoking. Antismoking advocate Stanton Glantz of the University of California at San Francisco said that none of the candidates would be considered an ally of the tobacco industry.
"Tobacco companies know they're a liability," Glantz said. "The money is there but it's hard to see." Rather than donating directly to candidates, he said, the industry has made more than $525,000 in donations to various "527" campaign organizations.
In the current election cycle, the tobacco industry has given $2.1 million to federal candidates and parties, down 80 percent from 1995-96.
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