A Virginian Pilot/Ledger Star survey of congres- sional records and a computer analysis of campaign contributions illustrated a political maxim that is easy to complain about but difficult to document: money buys influence. Computer-assisted reporter Tom Boyer used an FEC database supplied by the National Library on Money & Politics to show an alignment between PAC campaign contributions and the political positions of three congressional incumbents.
Boyer also isolated each candidate's top five donors and the amounts, as well as the top 10 donors overall. Boyer recommends dealing with the Library instead of the FEC. "FEC tapes are expensive and cumbersome to work with, and to make sense of PAC contributions it's a huge help to have the detailed industry codes the National Library folks have added." The best way to keep up to speed with contribu- tion data, Boyer says, is have National Library data plus a link to the FEC's on-line system.
The best way to use PAC-donation data, Boyer suggests, is in routine congress coverage. "We've plowed campaign finance data into our day-to-day coverage of the Virginia General Assem- bly," he says. "Legislators hate it, and lobbyists hate it even more Some lawmakers become timid about carrying a PAC's water if they know their vote will end up beside their contributions in the next day's paper."