October 19, 2006
Top Democrats are trying to convince two potential presidential candidates with flush campaign bank accounts to part with as much as $1 million each to finance the DSCC s late October effort to pull six Senate seats from Republican control. Sen. Evan Bayh's 2008 re-election committee reported $10.6 million cash on hand through the end of 9/06. On Monday, following a conversation with Min. Leader Sen. Harry Reid, Bayh directed his donors to raise $K for the DSCC and intends deliver the checks by the beginning of next week.
'04 Dem nominee John Kerry (D-MA) has more than $8 million in his presidential campaign account. In 2004, Kerry contributed $1 million to help retire the DSCC's. debt. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), another presidential aspirant with low cash reserves has given $100,000 from his Senate account and $30,000 from his PAC, according to his spokesman, Trevor Miller. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) has given $100K. Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) has written a $50K check.
Within the past two weeks, Senate colleagues, staffers and Democratic strategists began to lean on Bayh and Kerry to write larger checks, even resorting, in some instances, to direct shame: yesterday, a Democratic official not affiliated with the DSCC sent around a website,
http://www.heyjohn.org , which takes Kerry to task. "We all know why John Kerry wants to hold on to the money we gave him for 2004, but he has plenty of time left to raise money for 2008. There are only 19 days left until this election," the website says. (MARC AMBINDER)
Snip...
Kerry, in particular, has filled Democratic accounts more than almost any other Democratic Senator. Kerry staff estimates his three federal committees have given $3.5 million to Senate candidates and committees since the beginning of the cycle. They've also recorded more than $1.6 million in internet contributions from members of Kerry's e-mail list to Senate incumbents and challengers. His aides bristle at the accusation that Kerry has failed to help his colleagues retake the Senate, though they acknowledge the recent pressure to do more, and called unfair the charge that they are in the same category as Bayh. Kerry spokesman David Wade: "(The) bottom line is that from day one John Kerry put all his resources to work, while some other people still haven't even bothered to open up their checkbooks." On his official campaign website, Kerry's team set up a page
bragging about their generosity: It's titled "No One Has Done More."
Bayh's PAC has written two checks worth $30,000 to the DSCC and has raised money for a half dozen candidates in competitive Senate races. Bayh's PAC has written two checks worth $30,000 to the DSCC and has raised money for a half dozen candidates in competitive Senate races. Bayh spokesman Dan Pfeiffer: "Bayh's top political priority in terms of time and resources is helping win the congressional and legislative races in Indiana."
Ideally, Democrats hope colleagues to give roughly 10 percent of their total, pointing to Sen. Hillary Clinton's two contributions totaling $2.1M as an example. A Clinton spokesman said he did not know whether she would contribute more in the waning days of the cycle. Federal campaign finance law prohibits candidates from transferring large sums out of their political action committees - the limit is $15K per year -- but it allows direct transfers between campaign accounts and national party committees.
more...Check out that bogus website! So Kerry gives the most, but Clinton is exonerated for giving less!
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
