WASHINGTON -- Soft-money donations to the political parties are on a pace to set a record this year, but more and more large corporations have quietly stopped giving them.
In some cases, senior executives say they want to distance themselves from what they describe as the capital's unseemly culture of cash and influence, while others acknowledge that their companies are simply not getting much in return for the money.Thirty-one corporations that in each previous election cycle since 1993-94 contributed at least $100,000 in soft money -- unlimited and largely unregulated gifts to the parties -- have not donated any soft money in the current cycle, covering the last 15 months, according to a computerized study of Federal Election Commission records. The list includes prolific past contributors like Revlon, Advanced Micro Devices, Miramax Films, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
None of the 31 companies have made statements announcing an end to their soft-money contributions, and many still make much smaller, federally regulated donations through political action committees. But some executives confirmed, although not for attribution, that their companies had adopted, or were weighing, a permanent ban on writing soft-money checks.
Only a few large companies -- General Motors, Monsanto, AlliedSignal, Time Warner, none of them among the most recent 31 -- have formally announced in recent years that they have sworn off soft money.
Few corporations have followed suit, in at least some cases because they do not want to risk angering legislators in Washington. "There are more and more companies out there who are refusing to give money, but they are not advertising their decision," said Charles E.M. Kolb, president of the Committee for Economic Development, an association of corporate executives fighting for a campaign finance overhaul that would outlaw soft money. "I suspect that there are more and more companies asking themselves if this is really worth it. What's just as interesting, though, is the fact that companies are scared to tell people."
Several executives said their corporations had stopped giving soft money because they had found better use of their resources, like lobbying, contributing to political action committees and acting as hosts for fund-raising events. Others have stopped giving because they believe that soft money plays an unhealthy role in the political process.