今秋企业界在民主党身上投入的资金首次超过了共和党，这是至少十年来首次出现这种情况。无党派组织Center for Responsive Politics的数据显示，在本次竞选过程中，各企业及其政治行动委员会在民主党候选人、民主党及外部政治组织身上花了1.159亿美元，而共和党获得了1.115亿美元。这些数据不包括个人捐款。
以此计算，在企业捐款方面，民主党以51%对49%取得了优势。
Center for Responsive Politics的数据显示，在最近几个竞选周期，企业界把66%的捐款投给了共和党，33%给了民主党。在上次总统竞选中，各企业向共和党投入了1.783亿美元，向民主党投了1.001亿美元。
企业捐献转向民主党的原因之一是大部分企业在政治支出方面都倾向于规避风险。
National Association of Federal Credit Unions的游说人士丹•伯格(Dan Berger)说，几乎所有的企业和贸易协会都以一种两党联合的方式运营，不过，占多数席位的党派总是获得更多的关注和资源；这并非一种罕见的政治现象，而是政治现实。
Brody Mullins
Corporate Spending in Denver Mirrors Broader Shift to Democrats
2008年08月29日
For the past decade, corporations have showered Republicans with money and attention. But this week's Democratic convention shows how much things have changed.
Corporations sponsored hundreds of cocktail parties, receptions and A-list concerts for Democratic lawmakers, aides and delegates gathered for the convention this week.
With Democrats in control of Congress and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama generating excitement across the country, companies appear to be springing for far fewer parties at the Republican convention next week in Minneapolis.
A list of Democratic convention events compiled by the Washington lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC is three times as long as one it compiled for the Republican convention.
A separate study by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute shows that 141 companies have donated $160 million to the host committee for the Democratic convention, compared with 80 companies and $100 million for the Republican convention.
Precise figures are impossible to produce because companies aren't required to disclose all of their spending at conventions, and host committees may report spending at a later date. But nonpartisan watchdogs have been monitoring spending by special interests in Denver. 'There certainly seems to be more parties at the Democratic convention than [planned for] the Republican convention,' said Nancy Watzman with the Sunlight Foundation.
The attention that businesses are devoting to Democrats at the convention underscores a broader shift in political spending as the Democratic Party increases its power in Washington.
For the first time in at least a decade, corporations are spending more money to elect Democrats this fall than they are on Republicans. Data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics show that corporations and their political action committees have contributed $115.9 million to Democratic candidates, the Democratic Party and outside political organizations this election cycle, compared with $111.5 million for Republicans. The data don't include donations from individuals.
That gives Democrats a 51% to 49% advantage over Republicans in corporate money.
Businesses in recent election cycles have given about 66% of their donations to Republicans and 33% to Democrats, according to the center's data. In the last presidential election, corporations spent $178.3 million to help Republicans and $100.1 million to benefit Democrats.
One reason for the shift to Democrats is that most corporations are risk-averse when it comes to political spending.
'Almost all corporations and trade associations operate in a bipartisan manner, but the majority party always receives more attention and resources,' said Dan Berger, a lobbyist for the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. 'This is not an unusual political phenomenon, it is political reality.'
