On Jake Tapper's Political Punch blog, ABC's Devin Dwyer reports that the majority owner of NBC is a major backer of the president: "Employees of media giant Comcast have contributed more money to President Obama’s reelection bid than employees from any other organization, according to a new analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the Center for Responsive Politics."
While Comcast employees gave $5,000 each to Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, "Comcast employees contributed nearly $80,000 directly to Obama for America and roughly $200,000 to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account benefitting both the Obama campaign and Democratic National Committee, through the first half of 2011 records show."
The Center for Responsive Politics analysis found 40 percent of Obama Victory Fund contributions are coming from two very blue states: California (25 percent) and New York (15 percent), also two states where most of our news and entertainment media are located. Dwyer continued:
President Obama has recently spent time with top Comcast executives, attending an intimate fundraiser at the home of Comcast executive vice president David Cohen in Philadelphia in June and a private “social reception” at the Martha’s Vineyard estate of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts earlier this week.
Roberts, who serves on the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, has not yet personally contributed to Obama’s campaign, according to FEC records.
Cohen, however, is a top Obama fundraiser, contributing the legal maximum to both the campaign and the DNC, and bundling more than $500,000 in contributions for the 2012 cycle from his friends and associates.
The Obama Victory Fund has collected $4.3 million from employees of law firms and lobbying shops, making them the top industry donor at 11 percent of all money the committee collected. Retirees, meanwhile, have contributed $3.72 million, or 10 percent, followed by the securities and investment industry, at $3.39 million, and -- the entertainment industry, at $2.53 million.
