The 2008 campaign isn't even over yet, but women have already donated unprecedented sums to this year's presidential candidates. From Jeanne Cummings of the Politico:
Women aren't just making history as marquee candidates this presidential cycle. According to a new study, they are also leaving a mark behind-the-scenes in the male-dominated world of political giving.
The study, released Tuesday by the Women's Campaign Forum Foundation, found that women have given $109 million to presidential candidates in checks of $200 or more -- triple the amount female donors delivered in 2000, with still two months to go in the race.
Not surprisingly, Hillary Clinton received a major portion of the cash. Women donated about $60 million to her presidential campaign, about half of the New York senator's total donations of more than $200 [million].
Also noted in the piece: Forty-seven percent of Barack Obama's disclosed donors, giving $75 million so far, are women, compared with a paltry 28 percent/$36 million for John McCain. (It is unclear from the article whether the data include donations to McCain or the Republican National Committee after Sarah Palin's selection as running mate, and I suspect totals are at best current through the end of August. Still, I'm certain even the Palin choice has not since equalized the totals, and it is unlikely to have raised McCain's female percentage to match Obama's.)
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