There are numerous sources on the Internet that may help you cover money and politics. Here are some highlights.
Newt's PAC Money, brought to you by NewtWatch, is a beautiful example of data collection and presentation on the web. Click on the colorful pie chart divided by special interest sectors and see the breakdown of contributions and then link to a listing of organizations and their exact amounts of contribution. If only every elected official had such a page created about them. http://www.cais.com/newtwatch/pac$indx.html
Charlotte's Web Government Reform Issues Page is compiled by "United We Stand," the political action group that grew out of Ross Perot's independent bid in the 1992 presidential race. The listing of documents and websites contains information about federal budgeting and campaign financing. There is potential material for background and sources. http://www.emf.net/-cr/govreform.html
Interactive activists
We the People focuses on campaign finance reform, single-payer health care, and environmental issues incinerators). The site has articles on the group's platform, audio files from radio programs and other materials. http://hoek.cchem.berkeley.edu/
Washington Citizen Action describes itself as a national federation of state citizen organizations with a combined membership of more than 2.5 million Americans. The group is an advocate in Washington, D.C., for medical reform, environmental clean-up, and campaign finance reform. There isn't very much on its pages right now, but this is a group that would be good to have on your rolodex. http://www.cyberquest.com/~wca/welcome.html
Justin's Political Infopage links to activist groups on the Net and "Nonpartisan Resources". http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/jab/mosaic/politics.html
Networked Government Resources isn't anything specifically about campaign finance, but it is a great page of links to presidential, congressional and other federal offices. http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/iiip/government.html
Congressional Quarterly offers a wide variety of information about Capital Hill. gopher://gopher.cqalert.com
C-Span offers a simple list of PAC contributions to federal candidates. It is located in the Government Resource Center. Get to C-Span through the Library of Congress' gopher at marvel.loc.gov
Take a run at the White House
Find out what President Clinton and his aides have said in speeches, press briefings and interviews about campaign finance reform. http://docs.whitehouse.gov/white-house-publications?election-campaign
Project Vote Smart offers a phone directory for all the presidential campaigns. http://www.peak.ork/vote-smart
On the Road to the White House says, "In preparation for the 1996 Presidential Voting Season, Internet Publishing Technologies is providing a collection of candidate information and links to various government and party related sites throughout the Web." Put this one on your bookmark, folks. They've got all the spin doctors - I mean sites - covered. http://www.ipt.com/vote/
In California
The Great Money Chase page links to a detailed study of campaign financing in California with charts and statistics from the national and state races. The study by Kim Alexander, with research assistance provided by Brian Tanner and Tracey Norwood, was published by California Common Cause in April. (For paper copy of the report contact Common Cause, 926 J Street, Suite 910. Sacramento, Calif.; (916) 443-1792, comcause@netcom.com.) http://www.uwsa.com:8972/uwsa/issues/cfr/moneychase.html
The California Campaign Finance Reform Page claims it contains a general discussion of campaign finance reform topics. applicable to any level of government anywhere in the United States. It also contains campaign finance information and potential solutions which are specific to California." There are some great key readings and background materials here. http://www.uwsa.com:8972/uwsa/issues/cfr/
If you have suggestions for this column, e-mail Nora Paul at npaul@poynter.org. Visit the Poynter Institute's website at http://www.nando.net/prof/poynter/home.html. It features Paul's Hot News/Hot Research in the Poynter Institute's library section. It takes news stories and links you to some good sources for information to cover that story. To go directly to the page: http://www.nando.net/prof/poynter/hrintro.html
Nora Paul is a former Miami Herald librarian now at the Poynter Institute. She is the author of Computer Assisted Research, available from the Poynter Institute and NICAR