McGovern Tell$ All

George McGovern last week released a complete list of all his campaign contributors and how much they have so far anted up. Unprecedented in the history of presidential politics, the gigantic printout contained 42,102 names, from Max Palevsky, Chairman of the Xerox Executive Committee, who tossed $25,000 into the pot, to Schoolboy John Poluchek of Los Angeles, who began with a contribution of 25-c- and has since added three installments, totaling $1.50.

Aside from its publicity value, McGovern's airing of his financial laundry was meant to be a backhanded swipe at Front-Runner Ed Muskie. In a statement now much publicized by McGovern's forces, Muskie this January admitted he would "be out of the race" if he unveiled the identity of his fat cats. The reason, of course, is that many large contributors simply do not want their names publicized, and would contribute no more if identified. But the McGovern camp does not discourage the inference that Muskie relies on tainted dollars to support his campaign.

As interesting as McGovern's motives are the sources of the $1,236,420.72 he has collected thus far. Clearly the little people have been at the heart of his campaign; the average direct-mail gift was $18.58, and the average gift overall was $29.36. Some of the money came in the form of Medicaid refund checks, and at least one contribution was the one month's hostile-fire pay ($65) of a G.I. in Viet Nam.

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