Obama leads cash battle in Virginia and region

There’s little surprise that Republican presidential nominee John McCain has raised more money in Hampton Roads from the military and defense communities than Democratic contender Barack Obama.

Some political observers were surprised, however, to learn that Obama has raised more money in Hampton Roads from the medical community than from any other occupation.

According to a Virginian-Pilot study of campaign finance reports, Obama had raised nearly $500,000 in Hampton Roads through August, compared with McCain’s $363,000.

The most contributions for each campaign came from retirees. After that, nearly 12 percent of all donations to Obama came from individuals in the medical community . For McCain, nearly 20 percent of his Hampton Roads donations came from the military/defense community , The Pilot’s analysis found.

“Actually, I think that’s quite interesting. I don’t usually find my colleagues to be particularly political,” said Dr. Theresa Whibley , a staunch Democrat and Norfolk city councilwoman who gave Obama $250.

Even the Obama camp was surprised by the findings.

“That’s fascinating,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, Obama’s senior health policy adviser and professor of public health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

“Traditionally, doctors are dominantly Republican-leaning, for a whole variety of reasons,” he said.

Officials with the McCain campaign declined to make available any policy advisers for interviews for this story.

The Obama campaign has specifically targeted the medical community, forming a committee, Doctors for Obama, http://doctorsforobama.net/, which Redlener co-chairs.

“Most projections I have seen suggest that McCain’s plan would lead employers to drop millions of people from health insurance. Perhaps the medical field does not relish that prospect,” said Jesse Richman, an assistant professor of political science at Old Dominion University.

There may be other reasons. The difference may not stem from the candidates’ philosophies on health care coverage but their opposing views on medical malpractice insurance.

Obama favors capping malpractice insurance rates on the theory that it will help bring down health care costs. McCain’s platform does not mention malpractice caps but instead argues for a law restricting frivolous medical lawsuits.

“Maybe that’s one of the biggest motives,” Whibley said of Obama’s malpractice cap plan. “I’m hopeful this is beyond that.”

Nationally, as of the end of August, Obama had received nearly $10 million from health care industry contributors, nearly twice what McCain received.

In what will likely be the nation’s first billion-dollar presidential campaign , money has been flowing into both tickets at unprecedented rates, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Through August, the FEC reported that Obama had taken in $454 million, largely from individual donors. McCain had raised $210 million by then, but McCain had agreed to accept public, or taxpayer, financing for his run for the White House. That means he has had to stop accepting individual donations as of the September GOP convention’s conclusion . Obama, who declined public financing, does not have to adhere to that restriction.

Obama had raised a little more than $8.1 million in Virginia; McCain took in nearly $5 million, according to the August filings.

In Hampton Roads, Obama has out- raised McCain by more than $130,000, according to The Pilot’s analysis.

Nationally, Obama’s top donors, as a group, were members of the legal community, followed closely by retirees. McCain’s leading donor group was retirees, followed in a distant second by the legal community.

The McCain camp remains optimistic about its support in Hampton Roads, especially among the military/defense community.

“John McCain has received enormous support from military families and the veteran community in Virginia because he has the experience, judgment and character to lead as commander in chief from day one,” McCain spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in an e-mail.

The Obama campaign has relied on grass-roots fundraising, declining money from lobbyists or special interest groups.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343,tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com