For Chamber of Commerce, ending that tin-cup rattling Chamber takes aim at loophole in donations law

Efforts to keep money out of politics are usually cast as a great boon to the little guy - the one who can't cut a $100,000 campaign check, hire a battalion of lobbyists, or subsidize a vocal trade organization.

So why was the latest shot in the war against local money politics fired by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce - whose members include some of the biggest of Philadelphia's big guys?

In interviews this week, a variety of city business leaders called the chamber's unanimous decision to have its members limit political donations to mayoral candidates to $2,500 a person or $10,000 a business or political committee a case of enlightened self-interest: an intersection of reformist ideals and more earthly motivations.

For instance, the desire to not have politicians constantly rattling a tin cup in your direction.

"Any time you get in any kind of a visible position, these people come out of the woodwork," said Judith M. von Seldeneck, chief executive of Diversified Search Cos. of Philadelphia and a former chamber chairwoman. "You cannot imagine the barrage everybody gets from these politicians to raise money. The sheer volume of it gets to be ridiculous."

Or the desire not to have your $1,000 contribution - not exactly small change to most Philadelphians - overpowered by someone who hands over $100,000.

"A lot of us are going to line up behind different candidates," said Nick DiBenedictis, chief executive of Aqua America. "But we all agreed on one thing: We want a level playing field."

Or simply wanting to avoid collateral embarrassment from the city's pay-to-play politics.

"From my perspective, it really is the appearance issue," said David L. Cohen, executive vice president of Comcast and a top city official when Gov. Rendell was mayor. "I think it is important for people to have the same level of confidence that I do in the basic integrity and responsibility of the vast number of elected officials. . . . When people read about $50,000, $100,000, or $200,000 contributions by people, it creates an appearance that is more smarmy than the reality, but is smarmy nonetheless."

Laws on the books already apply the chamber's limits to city candidates. But those laws don't cover undeclared candidates, such as the half-dozen pols likely to run for mayor next year. With its vote last Thursday, the chamber's 130-member board became the first major organization in the city to back an effort to apply the rules immediately.