In 2008, all of this is still taking place, but a new trend has emerged - the rise of the small donors.

Democrat Barack Obama has raised more from people giving $200 or less than Republican John McCain has collected all together. More than 40 percent of his 2 million donors have given small amounts.

But this isn't simply a Democratic trend. Take a look at the campaign for Utah's 3rd Congressional District seat.

Challenger Jason Chaffetz defeated incumbent Rep. Chris Cannon in the Republican primary in part based on an active volunteer corps that financially supported Chaffetz's campaign. Just under 14 percent of his contributions came from small donors, 491 of them giving more than $28,000 total.

Cannon collected less than 1 percent of his campaign fund from small donors.

Those supporters sending small checks are more than just a funding source, said Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan Washington group that advocates for more low-dollar contributions.

"It is a sign that a candidate is connecting with people," he said. "It is important for a healthy democratic system to have people involved in politics."

Presidential candidates have had a much easier time attracting middle-class donors than those running for the U.S. Senate or House. Obama raised an unheard-of 65 percent of his campaign contributions in June in small amounts.

The average for a House and Senate campaign is about 10 percent. And other than Chaffetz, candidates in Utah have had a hard time approaching the national average.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, has $1.3 million in his campaign account, but only $45,000 of that came from small donors. That's only 3.4 percent.

Republican Rep. Rob Bishop has collected only $2,400 in small amounts, or a paltry 1.2 percent.

Bishop targeted small donors when he first ran for office in 2002, said Chief of Staff Scott Parker. "We have hundreds and hundreds of individual small contributors, we just may not hit them up every cycle," he said.

Malbin isn't surprised Utah's office holders haven't reached out to the masses.

"Most incumbents don't face serious challengers, therefore there is simply no incentive to do it," he said. "They are fully capable of raising $1 million or more through Washington fundraising events."

Going after small donors takes tremendous effort. Local candidates would have to hold a bunch of small events and spend one-on-one time with a donor who may give only $20. Or they would need to create sizable Web-based communities like Obama. It is easier for House members to contact a political action committee and get a $1,000 donation.

That's why challengers and candidates who position themselves as Washington outsiders are more likely to go after the small bucks.

For Chaffetz, he really didn't have any other option. "I wasn't going to self-fund. I refused to go into debt. I wasn't going to get the big dollars that an incumbent can get," he said.

Instead he invited people over to his home and he targeted disaffected Republican delegates. It worked, setting him up for a November showdown with Democrat Bennion Spencer.

"He is the first political candidate who has grabbed my attention and made me want to donate," said Holly Richardson, of Pleasant Grove. Richardson and her husband gave Chaffetz three $50 donations.

Richardson had never volunteered for a candidate before and never donated, but she found Chaffetz inspiring. Not only did she donate, she walked neighborhoods putting up lawn signs.

Christie Nuttall of Orem had a similar experience. She felt Chaffetz was an independent voice, not a go-along-to-get-along Republican. And she liked his stand on energy and immigration. She started to volunteer and then she gave the first campaign contribution of her life - $25.

"We were trying to engage people who had previously been shunned by the establishment," said Chaffetz.

David Magleby, a Brigham Young University political scientist who has studied the increase in small donors, said that's because "there is a psychological element to the commitment of giving money."

While Obama and Chaffetz have very little in common politically and personally, they do share this goal. They are trying to turn small donors into volunteers and those volunteers into a movement, whether in person or online, driven by a single issue, such as immigration, or a larger distaste for Washington.

"They champion it as part of their political persona," Magleby said.

Obama still collects tens of millions from labor leaders and the Democratic elite and Chaffetz has started to cash those big dollar special interest checks. But the most recent campaign disclosures indicate both of them are still reaching small donors.

"The biggest mistake we could make is to forget our roots and who brought us to the show," Chaffetz said. "If I can't raise money on the grass-roots level, then I shouldn't be your congressman."

mcanham@sltrib.com