From the Center for Responsive Politics:
Business gave a total of almost $842million. Of that, 40% went to Democrats, and 59% went to Republicans. Given my observation about the tendency of business to support incumbents, that may be sufficient explanation of the split.
Labor gave about $56million, although that does not count in kind help, like man- hours, merely direct contributions. In any case, 93% went to Democrats.
"Ideological" special interest money totalled about $34million, and 51% went to Democrats.
This is all as of the first of October, and there is this additional caveat from the Center:
An important caveat must be added to these figures: "business" contributions from individuals are based on the donor’s occupation/employer. Since nearly everyone works for someone, and since union affiliation is not listed on FEC reports, totals for business are somewhat overstated, while labor is understated. Still, the base of large individual donors is predominantly made up of business executives and professionals. Contributions under $200 are not included in these numbers, as they are not itemized.
My observations: considering these caveats, including the fact that there is no categorization of individual donors as "labor", and no counting of contributions under $200, the figures are bogus. Only a direct comparison of business and labor pacs would yield any interpretable data.
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