Not long ago, Sen. Barack Obama criticized special-interest lobbies that "use their money and influence to stop us from reforming health care or investing in renewable energy for yet another four years." He has said that his army of small donors constitutes "a parallel public financing system," one in which ordinary voters "will have as much access and influence over the course of our campaign" as that "traditionally reserved for the wealthy and the powerful."

Obama has raised record-breaking sums from small donors, so his announcement yesterday that he would opt out of the public financing system for the general election did not surprise many. And the idea that the Internet and grass-roots donations will somehow reinvigorate our democracy is appealing. But this notion is not borne out by the evidence.

As of April 30, the Obama campaign had collected more than $120 million in contributions of $200 or less. In April alone, the latest month for which data are available, Obama raised more than $31 million, about 65 percent of which came from contributions of $200 or less. This seems good for democracy -- but it may not be as good as we think.

Despite the importance of small donors, both Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain are still taking lots of big donations from wealthy special interests. In fact, when the nominating system as a whole is studied over time, the evidence suggests that the role of big donors will turn out to be growing, not shrinking.

Through March, small donations amounted to 39 percent of the combined fundraising of Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. But over a comparable period four years ago, such contributions made up an even greater share (42 percent) of the fundraising of the two leading Democratic contenders, Sen. John Kerry and former Vermont governor Howard Dean. On the GOP side, small donors were much more important for McCain in 2007 than they were for George W. Bush in 2003. But for most of last year McCain was not the front-runner, and his campaign was famously broke. Now that he is the presumptive nominee, big donors are his bread and butter.

Contributions of less than $200 do not have to be itemized in reports to the Federal Election Commission, so we have no idea how many are made. We also cannot rely on the candidates' rhetoric to match the facts. During a Feb. 26 debate in Cleveland, for example, Obama said that "we have now raised 90 percent of our donations from small donors, $25, $50." His campaign's own data from January 2007 through January 2008 show that 36 percent of donated funds were from small donors. Obama probably meant that 90 percent of the individuals who contributed were small donors, but the number of donors has not been verified.

Small-dollar donations to Obama have surged this year, and those donors became crucial in the spring as the battle to secure the Democratic nomination intensified. But for most of his campaign, big donors have been Obama's mainstay. Employees of investment bank Goldman Sachs, for example, have contributed more than $570,000 to his campaign.

Another problem with asserting that small donors are an antidote to undue influence by wealthy contributors is that even small donors are almost certainly much richer than the average American.

In a study of $100 contributions to state campaigns in six states during 2005, the Campaign Finance Institute found that more than half of donors earned between $75,000 and $250,000 a year. The median U.S. income that year was $46,000. While it's tricky to extrapolate to the presidential race, it is unlikely that campaign giving has suddenly become a common pursuit of working-class families.

Meanwhile, big-ticket fundraising among the very wealthiest is surging into record territory. Even as he touts his base of small donors, Obama has continued to woo large contributors at events costing thousands of dollars per plate, as has McCain. This suggests that, by themselves, small donations do not offer a real corrective to the pay-to-play system.

Neither does the public financing available to the candidates. This funding is frozen at 1976 levels, which is why Obama has rejected it -- he can raise from private sources more than the amount of the government grant. McCain no doubt would have taken the same path if his fundraising had taken off.

The idea that small donors will somehow reinvigorate electoral democracy, without the trouble of fundamentally reforming our campaign finance laws, is attractive but not yet reality. For candidates to be equally responsive to all their constituents and to open to ordinary voters the same kind of influence and access now afforded a wealthy minority, the only realistic option is to increase the amount of money we allocate to the public campaign finance system. In fact, the small-donor illusion may even be functioning as a fig leaf, averting our gaze from the continued and intensifying stranglehold that big donors have on our democracy.

Jay Mandle, an economics professor at Colgate University, is the author of "Democracy, America, and the Age of Globalization."

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HAMILTON — Colgate University will present its 12th annual Chenango Summer MusicFest Thursday, June 19, through Sunday, June 22.

This year, along with world-renowned artists performing classical favorites, the festival celebrates the music of France and its colonies. Haitian Konpa band Do-La will headline the festival.

Konpa music arose from the European ballroom dance tradition amalgamated with Africanized rhythms. It has strayed from its roots, incorporating reggae, calypso, Cuban son, rock, funk, jazz, swing and hip-hop styles. Do-La is at the cutting edge of this movement, melding traditional rhythms with a new age vibe.

Individual concert tickets are $15; $10 seniors and students older than 16.

The festival will kick off with the “City of Light” concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at St. Thomas' Church, |12½ Madison St. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 20, listen to a potpourri of classical music at the Colgate Chapel.

Saturday, June 21, is Village Day. It will feature performances by the Chenango Players, Tapestry, the OV Dixieland Band and the Thistle Seeds, Suzuki Violin School students.

A family drum workshop with Gaston Jean-Baptiste will take place at 11:15 a.m. on the Village Green. Families are invited to bring a picnic dinner and eat on the Green at 6 p.m.
Do-La will take the stage at 6:30 p.m. on the Village Green (or the Palace Theater, in case of rain).

Celebrate Fete de la Musique at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at St. Mary's Church on Route 12B and Wylie Street. This pay-what-you-want event will feature famous and unusual chamber music and will be followed by a closing reception in the garden.

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Catherine Cardelús, a new Colgate faculty member in Biology starting July 1, was interviewed recently by Science magazine about her work in canopy rain forest ecology. To listen to the interview, click the attached link.

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For up-and-coming playwright Colette Freedman, seeing her play Sister Cities on stage this month in Burbank has been a thrill. But the icing on the cake is having it entered in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland this summer.The play opens Friday at the Sidewalk Studio Theatre in Burbank. Then the company leaves for Scotland for the festival on July 30 and will return Aug. 30.

Its the most wonderful feeling in the world, Freedman said. I dont think my life can get better after this.Freedman, a Burbank resident, has been in several plays at Sidewalk and is on its board of directors. Producers of Sidewalk came to see Sister Cities when Circus Theatricals produced it in Los Angeles.They loved it and asked me to be involved with them, she said. They wanted to take it to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.The Fringe, which began in 1947, is held for three weeks each August in Scotlands capital with many other arts and cultural festivals known as the Edinburgh Festival.

She earned her degree in English and drama at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.When she came to Los Angeles in 1992, she worked as an actress in a classical theater troupe and then joined Circus Theatricals, Freedman said.She has been writing plays for six years. The first four years, she wrote only 10-minute plays. She won an award for her first play in an online contest, and it has been produced in 20 productions and all over the country, she said. Her second play was published and can be purchased on amazon.com

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A Longmeadow native won a Tony Award last night for his set design for the Broadway Hit 'August: Osage County,' which also garnered several other Tonys, including best play. Todd A. Rosenthal, 43, was among one of the first winners announced in the early part of the show, which begins before the televised portion starts at 8 p.m. His win was announced and a montage of his design, along with the others who were nominated for the honor, was shown during the televised portion.

'They recap it during the awards. If I lose, I will lose twice,' he joked yesterday afternoon. Rosenthal was nominated May 13 along with Peter McKintosh for 'The 39 Steps,' Scott Pask for 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses,' and Anthony Ward for 'Macbeth.' Before the award ceremony Rosenthal joined with his girlfriend and his mother Joanna H. and father Dr. Erik A. Rosenthal, who still live in Longmeadow, for lunch in New York. In a phone interview he said he was excited to be nominated, but was not really expecting to win the award.

'I've lived long enough to know not to expect any of this,' he said. But win or lose he was he said he was still happy about attending the award show and being able to cheer for the Broadway show. 'I think it will be fun, it will be a good celebration of 'August: Osage County.' I think it will win a lot of awards and I'm here to support everyone,' he said. The drama also won the Tony for best play, and Deana Dunnagan won the best actress award. Anna D. Shapiro won the award for best director of a play, while Rondi Reed won for best performance by a featured actress in a play.

The play was also nominated for best lighting, but the award went to a nominee from a different play. Rosenthal attended Deerfield Academy and holds degrees from Colgate University in New York and the Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Conn. He moved to Chicago to work with Steppenwolf Theatre, where his most recent play originated. He also teaches at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

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