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=<div>5. Alex Spanos: Dubya’s BFFAlex Spanos, of the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, is an 85-year-old self-made real estate tycoon coming in at <a target="blank" href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/alexander-spanos" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">number 365 on Forbes 400</a> [31], with a net worth of $1.1 billion. Unlike other sports owners, Spanos is not media-shy about his political leanings.In 2005, Spanos <a target="blank" href="http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051012/NEWS01/510120309&SearchID=73223136404691" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">bragged</a> [32] to the local press of his hometown, Stockton, California, that he has “been friends with every Republican president since Gerald Ford.” Those bragging rights were well earned. During the 2004 presidential election, he lent his private jet to his close and personal friend George W. Bush, who used it to fly around the country during his 2004 presidential campaign. According to the <a target="blank" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/09/politicians-score-significant.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">Center for Responsive Politics</a> [33], from 1989 to 2009 political contributions from the Chargers' executives, coaches and players were the highest in the league at $2.4 million, 98 percent of which went to Republicans. The CRP describes Spanos as "professional football's most prolific political bankroller" whose contributions alone totaled $2 million.This doesn't include his $5 million 2004 contribution to the <a target="blank" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Progress_for_America_Voter_Fund" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">Progress for America Voter Fund</a> [34], a conservative 527 group that funnels money into Republican campaigns.  According to the Center for Media and Democracy's <a target="blank" href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alex_Spanos" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">SourceWatch</a> [35], Spanos was a Bush Ranger in 2004, meaning he contributed more than $200,000 directly to his and Cheney's re-election campaign.In the 2000 presidential election, the <a target="blank" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/02/us/the-republicans-the-few-the-rich-the-rewarded-donate-the-bulk-of-gop-gifts.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">New York Times</a> [36] counted Spanos as part of the Republican Regents, a group of individual and corporate donors who contributed no less than $250,000 to Bush's election.According to <a target="_blank" href="http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/texan-rick-perry-buoyed-calif-cash-12023" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); outline: none;">California Watch</a> [37], a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, Spanos also contributed $15,000 to Rick Perry’s 2008 reelection bid for Texas Governor. </div><div></div>