Macy Politics

by Pa Rock
Campaign Contributor

I read somewhere that Macy is a fairly uncommon surname and was probably attached to less than 5,000 families in the United States. Several of those are in the Missouri Ozarks, with most, if not all, being relatives of mine. I have always been told that I was the "black sheep" because of my Democratic political leanings, but I am finally beginning to figure out that, aside from my Ozark cousins, most Macys are Democrats - at least the ones who donate to campaigns.

The first crack in the family fallacy appeared over the recent holidays when my Dad (of all people!) fessed up that his mother was a Democrat. He said that she and his father would catch a ride to the polls with the neighbors, where she would vote straight Democratic and her husband would vote straight Republican. (They must have enjoyed just getting out of the house for awhile!)

Working on the assumption that I may have grown up under a misconception, I recently checked the Federal Elections Commission stats for the name Macy. The results of that query were quite interesting - at least to me.

There were 34 political donors with the last name of Macy in 2008, and they made a total of 49 donations for a total of $37,448. Nine of the 34 donors gave to Republican candidates or committees to the tune of $6,850. Twenty-three donated a total of 29,378 to Democratic candidates or committees. Three individuals donated $1,200 to Political Action Committees (PACs).

Of the Republican donations, $200 was given to the Republican National Committee, $1,250 was given to Congressional candidates, $500 to Thompson, $1950 to Guiliani, and $2,950 to McCain.

The Democratic donations totaled $750 to the Democratic National Committee, $8,300 to Congressional candidates, $903 to Edwards, $2,300 to Richardson, $4,615 to Clinton, and $12,530 to Obama.

So not only am I within the political mainstream of Macys nationally, at least the ones who put their money where their heart is, but I was even in the winning wing of the winning party during the most recent national election. The Macy family is apparently much smarter than I was led to believe!

Suddenly I feel much less mavericky!