Anchorage Daily News

WASHINGTON -- Tay Thomas had heard all about Barack Obama from her cousin, whose father taught the president-elect high school history in Hawaii three decades ago.

So when it came time to give to Obama's transition team, Thomas was there, with a $100 donation.

"I just think he's great, he's a great speaker, and I think that he's very bright and sharp," said Thomas, 82, a retired writer in Anchorage. "He's the one person that can really pull us out of the mess we're in right now."

Just six donors from Alaska are among the 1,776 nationwide who gave to the president-elect's transition team, which made donor names public this week in an effort to be transparent about who is helping pay for the government-in-waiting.

But many have personal, compelling stories for why they decided to give money, even small amounts. Most say they like that they were asked by the transition for ideas outlining the direction they want the country to head.

"I was flabbergasted that a national campaign would ask me for input," said Dr. Daniel Hartman, 43, a physician in Bethel, who gave $50. "I was thrilled."

The transition team receives $8.5 million in federal money but also is hoping to raise $3.5 million separately for its transition operations.

By law, transition teams can accept contributions up to $5,000 from U.S. citizens and corporations. The Obama transition team has chosen not to accept donations from corporations, labor unions or political action committees and registered federal lobbyists.

The team also doesn't have to make the list of donors public until after the inauguration, but Obama has chosen to release the names monthly. The first round of names, released Monday, showed that the team has raised $1.17 million between the election and Nov. 15. Of that, just $1,050 came from Alaska donors.

Retired schoolteacher Carol Slater, 60, of Fairbanks, contributed $100 of it, saying she liked Obama's aggressive transition appointments. Giving to a campaign is different than giving to the transition, Slater said, but she felt the government in waiting was deserving of support, too.

"I do not recall any president-elect doing as much at this time," she said. "It's so much like he has stepped into the presidential shoes. I just believe that he -- more than any president-elect -- is giving so much of his time, that I believe I need to support the transition."

An e-mail soliciting donations to the transition team made a case that resonated with Obama supporters: help the transition team continue the campaign's effort to involve as wide a variety of people from as many backgrounds as possible, and not just special interests.

That argument appealed to Hartman, who said he got an e-mail making the argument that "prior transition efforts had been funded through PACs and larger special interests."

"They wanted to reach out to a broader group of folks, so I thought that was important," he said.

Such an approach may be what helped the Obama campaign raise an unprecedented $750 million on his way to the White House. As with the transition, however, Alaska was not a major source of money for the campaign. Of the $750 million, just $983,248 was raised in Alaska.

Big money aside, Hartman said he believes that the incoming administration will run the government the way successful community organizations do: by interviewing people, determining community priorities, and melding them with administration priorities. That's something he admires in his own line of work, Hartman said.

Hartman also said he was pleased to be asked by the transition team for ideas on which direction he thinks the country should go. Even though his contributions to the campaign were small, he joked that the e-mail interaction with the campaign -- with someone from rural Alaska -- was so personal that he "felt like a fat cat who had been invited to a state dinner, after contributing $100,000. I felt like my input was valued."

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