The sudden collapse of Bear Stearns may hit politicians where it hurts: in their campaigns' pocketbooks.

Employees of the once-feisty Wall Street firm gave over $5 million to politicians and party groups since 2000, according to Congressional Quarterly's Moneyline database.

The firm's political action committee doled out close to $500,000 during the period, tending to favor politicans of whichever party controlled Capitol Hill at the time.

Among candidates in the 2008 presidential race, Bear Stearns employees have favored Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, N.Y. They have given their home-state contender and her various committees over $200,000 in the past five election cycles, compared to $73,800 for Republican John McCain and $38,425 for Clinton’s Democratic primary contender, Sen. Barack Obama, Ill.

Their favorite 2008 White House hopeful dropped out months ago. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., also chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, collected over $313,000 from Bear Stearns employees since the 2000 campaign season.

Update: Bear Stearns' purchaser, J.P. Morgan Chase, has been even more generous. Morgan Chase employees have contributed roughly $8 million since 2002, according to OpenSecrets.org. The firm spends millions more on lobbying, Senate records show.