Post article: People pressured for contributions

Another problem with our current system of elections funded by special interests and lobbyists is the pressuring of people who cannot afford it to contribute to political campaigns.
In today's edition, the Washington Post examines the issue, which should become more and more of a problem in the 2008 election, which promises to be the most expensive campaign of all time:

The bundlers are under their own kind of pressure to produce for their candidates. And they pass it on -- corporate executives hitting up employees, real estate developers seeking checks from vendors and law partners prevailing upon less-senior lawyers.

One sign of where this pressure -- direct and indirect -- is applied is the rising number of contributions from secretaries, administrative assistants and executive assistants for whom a $1,000 political contribution is a major expense. At this point in the campaign four years ago, 127 donors making contributions listed one of those three occupations. In the first six months of this year the number was 526, and the average check was for nearly $800.

"Almost everyone raising the big money these days will tell you: You start your fundraising network by thinking of people . . . who can't say no," said Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University professor who has studied the psychology of political giving. "They may not tell the person they have to give, or even imply it, but both of them know that's not true."