Michael Dukakis was on the receiving end of the Andreas family's generosity on May 25, 1988 _ to the tune of $8,000. The eight $1,000 donations to the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign from members of the family came just a day after nine members contributed $1,000 each to another party cause, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Those checks would barely have time to clear before the Republican Party got a $35,000 share of the Andreas family's wealth. On June 1, seven family members made $5,000 donations to the Republican National Committee. For the Andreas family, the bipartisan generosity was not at all unusual. Led by Dwayne Andreas, chairman of the grain-trading giant Archer Daniels Midland Co., family members are prolific donors to campaigns and causes associated with both major political parties, giving more than $500,000 in the past decade alone. The family's coordinated approach to campaign contributions is a textbook example of how major donors can enlist their families to broaden their political impact. Critics of the campaign finance system complain that these coordinated donations allow rich donors to circumvent contribution limits adopted after Watergate to lessen the influence of the wealthy. Indeed, even with contributions flowing from other members of the family, both Dwayne Andreas and his wife, Dorothy Inez Andreas, in the 1988 election cycle exceeded the $25,000 limit on contributions to federally regulated campaigns, according to an Associated Press review of FEC records. The AP review of FEC records for the past decade shows Dwayne Andreas exceeded the $25,000 limit in the last four election cycles _ 1981-82, 1983-84, 1985-86 and 1987-88 _ and is nearing the cap with six months left in the current two-year cycle. Andreas and his wife are by no means the only wealthy Americans to exceed the $25,000 limit, exposing what critics call a glaring weakness of the FEC's enforcement efforts. ``It is a difficult provision of the law for us to monitor,'' said commission spokeswoman Sharon Snyder. ``We don't always have the resources for that kind of audit work, particularly in election years.'' In fund-raising circles, Dwayne Andreas ranks among the elite of the ``switch-hitters,'' influential donors who spread their contributions among both major political parties. In business circles, he is a legend for his friendships with Washington's power brokers, including presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and more recently his private meetings with Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Asked for comment, Claudia Madding, an aide to Andreas said: ``We do not discuss personal donations made by members of the Andreas family.'' Andreas himself did not immediately return a telephone message Ms. Madding said she would forward to him. Dwayne Andreas, once a major backer of Democrat Hubert Humphrey, more recently has emerged as a major supporter of Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Dole's campaigns, political action committee and tax-exempt foundation. When Dole was seeking the presidency in 1988, Andreas, his wife, children and their spouses gave $10,000 to the Dole effort but also contributed $30,000 to six other presidential hopefuls. The contributions included $9,000 to fellow Greek-American Michael Dukakis and $1,000 to the man who defeated Dole for the Republican nomination _ George Bush. Andreas later was among the $100,000 donors to the GOP's so-called ``soft money'' campaign. Archer Daniels Midland's political action committee also gave to four of the presidential candidates. FEC records show Andreas family members donated at least $550,000 to House, Senate and presidential candidates and political party organizations involved in elections over the last decade. The giving appeared to cross party lines indiscriminately while perhaps favoring lawmakers in states where Archer Daniels Midland has major plants, such as Illinois. One of that state's favorite sons, House Republican Leader Bob Michel, was the Andreas family favorite last Sept. 6. Seven family members in three states each donated $1,000 that day to the Michel's 1990 re-election. Before the day was out, another $7,000 came into Michel's coffers in $1,000 donations from seven Archer Daniels Midland officials. Three weeks earlier, the company's PAC had donated $2,000 to Michel, whose district abuts ADM's headquarters in Decatur, Ill. For Florida Sen. Bob Graham, a Democrat, his day as the family favorite would come two months after Michel's, on Nov. 10, 1989, when eight family members donated $500 each to his campaign. That $4,000 was dwarfed by the $14,000 received by Massachusetts Democrat Joseph Kennedy from the family on April 28, 1986. Kennedy, facing a primary race in his successful attempt to take retiring Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill's seat in the House, received $1,000 donations from 14 members of the Andreas family.
