Even before the war on tobacco turned into a presidential campaign issue, it brought $1 million to the national Republican Party in the first three months of 1996.
Tobacco companies, which are fighting President Clinton's pending crackdown on their products, gave $75,500 to the Democratic Party during that same time, according to figures released Thursday.The financial figures, compiled by the nonprofit watchdog group Common Cause, are the latest released since Clinton and GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole began arguing last month about tobacco's influence on lawmakers. Dole opposes Clinton's mandate to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.
The latest donations show "tobacco companies have decided to place a very large bet on Bob Dole," said Clinton campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart.
Dole officials didn't immediately comment but have accused Democrats of hypocrisy for also accepting political contributions from tobacco companies.
Tobacco interests contributed $4.5 million to the Republican Party from 1993 through 1995, and $800,000 to the Democratic Party during the same period.
"To suggest that contributions buy votes is insulting to all elected officials," tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds said in a statement.
The "soft money," unlimited donations for party-building activities that don't specifically target candidates, the GOP received between January and March is the most tobacco firms have given any party in a similar time-frame, said the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which released the figures amid renewed interest in Clinton's policy toward tobacco.
The FDA is completing regulations that would include banning vending machine sales and curbing tobacco advertising seen by minors.