Are Democrats raising more money online than Republicans because they are more popular or Web-savvy?

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by Eric Young

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The Democrats are able to out gain their Republican counter-parts in Internet donations. Are the Democrats able to acquire more donations due to their view's on gay rights or abortion? Are the Democrats able to out fund raise the GOP through their popularity? No, both the fore mentioned reasons might have drawn some contributions, but they are not the majority answer. The majority of the Internet fund raising gap is simple demographics.

Let's look at some simple demographics. Nationally, the Baby boomer generation has a total population of about 78 million,(http://www.census.go v/popest/states/asrh /SC-EST2008-01.html) this compared with generation X has about 128 million. This is almost 2 to 1 odds.

Yes, being part of a generation does not automatically secure your vote for one specific party, yet it does factor in. Let's look at Ohio for example. This is a state that has voted republican in the 2004 presidential election and democratic in the 2008. What changed in Ohio? The basic numbers show over 1 million more registered Democrat.(Thecolumbu sDispatch.com) In Ohio we find the population of registered voters almost mirrors the national 4.5 million generation x'ers to 3 million boomers.(http://www.census.go v/popest/states/asrh /tables/SC-EST2008-0 1.xls). This gives the democrats an advantage.The answer to "what happened to Ohio?" Ohio got younger and more diverse. Ohio also lost wealth, giving one more statistic to aid in Democratic party recruitment.

Diversity is a major factor in one's political disposition. Gen X is more ethnically diverse than the generation prior and gen. Y more so. Ethnic minorities have trended overwhelmingly towards the Democratic party. This gives the Democrats one more advantage. The Internet, as a fund raising tool, has only recently been exploited, though not to its fullest extent.

The younger the demographic, the more apt they are to be familiar with the internet. As generation X moves deeper into professions, the more disposable income they will have. The more disposable funds means more contributions. In the future I think we can expect to see both parties' Internet contributions growing, however, I believe the Democrats can expect to see theirs grow at a quicker pace. I would imagine it would follow the changing demographics closely. As political engagement tails off from the boomer generation and traditional fund collecting will shift more so to the Internet.

While the GOP has made inroads with some ethnic minorities such as the Hispanic population, the republicans might be able to capitalize this in the future. The percentage growth of the Hispanic population versus the registered Republicans amongst them, has not kept pace. In other words the Democrats continue to keep an advantage.

The Republican party faces the same dilemma that Cadillac faced in the late 90's; its customer base was aging at a more rapid rate than it was being replaced and Cadillac had enough sense to redesign. Will the Republican party redesign? The Democratic party has and will continue to have an overwhelming advantage in its Internet fund collecting for the foreseeable future. This article has not touched on the fastest growing political party in Internet contributions. The "Green party". Join me next week for "The Two Party Future?"

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