The hot campaign news these days is all about small donors recharging the political landscape, and is sure to be part of the story when candidates file their third quarter reports in mid-October. Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) already got headlines for breaking records by raising nearly a third of his contributions from donors giving $200 or less. During their second quarter of fundraising, donors who gave $200 or less accounted for one out of four contributions from individuals collected by presidential candidates, an increase of 84 percent over first quarter totals, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).There are also reports that small donors are giving more to national party committees. Much of this giving has been fueled by the Internet, which makes small donor giving easier.

But make no mistake about it: big donors still dominate. The amount candidates collect from donors giving more than $1,000 trounces what they collect from small donors and makes more of a difference earlier in the political game. The candidates know that size matters, and their campaign finance filings show it. This is bad news for the body politic, because big donors do not look like the rest of America, but rather represent a small, elite slice of the wealthiest and most privileged.

Read full analysis in attached document.