On Sunday January 13, the Grand Rapids Press ran a front page story titled "Primary 08: in W. Michigan, voting with dollars." The story provides some information about which Presidential candidates have raised the most money here in West Michigan and mentions some of the major donors, but fails to provide readers with any detailed information on what role money plays in electoral politics and what impact big donors have on the democratic process. The Press tells readers that the data they used is from the Center for Responsive Politics and is based upon the October 31, 2007 filings that candidates are required to submit to the Federal Election Commission. It seems that a great deal has happened with the presidential candidates in the past two and a half months and with the next deadline for filing on January 31st, one could ask if the article on campaign fundraising was a bit misleading. According to the Press story McCain ($442,000) and Obama ($109,000) were the top two fundraisers in West Michigan as of October 31. This doesn't really influence the Democratic Primary, since Obama is not on the ballot, but it could potentially influence voters in favor of McCain. Not only does the story state that McCain is the top money raiser, it lists several prominent Republican donors that carry much weight with GOP politics - Alticor Chairman Stephen Van Andel, Gainey Corporation CEO Harvey Gainey, Peter Secchia, and Peter Cook. However, the Press doesn't provide any real information on why these big names might be bankrolling McCain and what kind of political influence they are hoping to buy. Harvey Gainey and Peter Cook are both significant supporters of religious right causes, while Secchia played a huge role in raising money to help elect George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Instead, the Grand Rapids Press quotes William Rustem, with the Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants. Rustem says people are donating money to the Obama and McCain campaigns because, "more educated people are clearly looking for 'change' candidates," even though nothing is reported in the story to describe what kind of change these candidates are advocating. What the Press could have done would have been to provide a more extensive list of donors from West Michigan and their ties to political influence and political movements. We encourage readers to go to the Open Secrets site and search the data on candidate donors based on name or zip code. In looking at the 49506 zip code, we found that the largest donors to date were Yesterdog owner Bill Lewis and his wife (both gave $4,600 to Obama) and Marge Byington ($4,600 to Giuliani). Other notable donors were James Peterson with Grubb/Ellis/Paramount Commercial Realty ($2,300 to Romney), J.C. Huizenga with Westwater Group ($2,100 to Romney), and Michael Ellis, owner of Ellis Parking ($1,000 to McCain). While listed with the Westwater Group, Huizenga is the president of National Heritage Academies, which runs Charter schools across the country. Huizenga was also a Bush Pioneer, raising over $100,000 and he sits on the board of the local rightwing think tank, the Acton Institute. As election outcomes are increasingly determined by which candidates have more money, it is important that the public not only know who are giving big donations, but how that influences the electoral process and the decision making of those elected. Media Mouse plans to provide regular updates on campaign donors, their political connections, and how candidates are spending the money they raise.