Republicans Get 4x Kohl's Individual Donations

The campaign finance reports are in, and in the United States Senate race it is clear that individual donors overwhelmingly choose to contribute to the two Republican candidates in the race over Democrat incumbent Herb Kohl by a better than four-to-one margin.
Republican Gerald Lorge, dismissed by some as a "perennial" candidate, raised some $11,500 from hardworking, honest individual citizens thus far as the 2006 senate campaign ramps up. Rae Sharlene Vogeler (never heard of her, either) bested Lorge's sum by raising $19,904 during the reporting period.
By contrast, Kohl, a senator since January 3, 1989, only raised a mere $6,650 from individuals during that period.
The senator's poor showing against his opponents in raising funds from individuals is being addressed -- aggressively -- by Wisconsin's senior senator, who expects to collect tens of thousands of individual contributions to his committee over the next 10 days by selling 8-ounce cups of flavored milk at the Wisconsin State Fair. The milk will be sold at prices ranging from twelve-and-a-half cents to a quarter per cup, far below the $1.50 per cup charged by other state fair vendors who lack political ties and clout with the Dairy cartel.
Although the milk sale will bring in thousands of new cash contributors to the campaign, it is unlikely to provide considerable funds, since the milk, apparently, is being sold at a loss by Kohl, a former grocer.
None of the three candidates have accepted contributions from Political Action Committees, further levelling the playing field between them.
However, there is an interesting anomaly in the interpretation of the term "individual" contributions, a search of the Federal Election Commission regulations shows. "Individual" includes all contributions from all individuals -- except the candidate himself (or herself.)
Ms. Vogeler has donated nothing to her own campaign according to the records, while her republican challenger Lorge donated $39,896 to his campaign.
Kohl, on the other hand, donated $5,205,000 to his campaign during the reporting period, which puts him at a financial advantage, when all is said and done.
Whew! He had us scared for a moment!
--Michael Horne