It's the Hard Money, Stupid

W A S H I N G T O N, July 15, 2002 -- House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt should easily win re-election in November, but that hasn't stopped him from raising money at a furious pace.

In the past two months alone, while juggling his political and legislative responsibilities, Gephardt raised more than $840,000 for his House re-election campaign account. Since the beginning of the year, he has raised $1.6 million from individuals and more than $940,000 from political action committees. The Missouri Democrat begins the second half of the year with $1.5 million in his campaign's bank account.

Why raise this money if it's not likely to be needed for a re-election campaign? Because it can be transferred to a presidential campaign account.

Here's another hint that Gephardt may be thinking beyond the borders of his St. Louis-based congressional district: Of the 848 itemized contributors, 806 do not live in Missouri.

Gephardt's totals are a sign of his ability to tap key sources of money, and will give a presidential bid, which he has acknowledged exploring, an edge. And it's a reminder of how many channels exist through which to funnel campaign contributions.

Gephardt, for example, has a leadership political action committee to give money to other candidates and campaigns. That money cannot be transferred to a presidential account, but it can be funneled to local candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire, and to key state parties, all to sow goodwill. And he has a bank account set up in Missouri to take in large quantities of so-called soft money. The PACs are a good source of political capital, so candidates facing re-election bids and thinking about higher offices will try to parcel out their time and energy.

Like Gephardt, Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts has the excuse of running a real re-election campaign in 2002 — even though he faces only a Libertarian who doesn't expect to get more than 20 percent of the vote. Republicans were unable to find a candidate. Kerry could tip-toe to victory if he wanted to.

But his political shop nevertheless managed to raise $1.4 million in three months, bringing his cash-on-hand total to just under $3.4 million. What he doesn't spend this year, he can transfer to a future campaign.

Kerry's Citizen Soldier PAC raised a little more than $250,000 in hard money, and an equivalent amount of soft money. Notable expenditures include $1,000 to the congressional campaign of Palm Beach County, Fla., Commissioner Carol Roberts, and $1,000 to the campaign of South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, considered by many a rising political star, as well as an influential member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is using his DASHPAC for proportionately more political activity. In the second three months of the year, he took in $385,000 and spent more than $109,000 on candidates and office expenses. DASHPAC has $1.1 million in the bank, partly because its spending is spare. The PAC contributed only $15,000 in June, for example. The South Dakota Democrat's Senate campaign account, which collects the occasional check along the with the dust, has about $900,000 in the bank.

Gore Comes Up Short?

Former Vice President Al Gore was the bear that didn't bite — at least not yet. He doesn't have any campaign accounts to fill, and his political responsibilities are comparably light. His PAC managed to take in $296,000, bringing his year to date total to $824,937. Gore has $181,362 left to spend.

Jano Cabrera, the PAC spokesman, said Gore is busy meeting his publisher's deadlines for his upcoming book about American families, being co-written with his wife Tipper, and so was unable to hold as many findraising events this quarter as he was in the last quarter.

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., remains a hard-charging money-raiser. His New American Optimists Committee reported raising $2.1 million this quarter, more than 50 percent of it in larger, soft-money checks. Edwards managed to raise $536,615 for his Senate campaign. Between the two committees, Edwards has $4.4 million in the bank.

When the new campaign finance legislation takes effect in November, Edwards' soft money spigot will be partially blocked. His fund-raisers hope to persuade their biggest soft-money donors to solicit from friends and colleagues the $2,000 per-election maximum allowable contribution. Bundling these checks together would allow him to keep pace. But a combined total of more than $1.3 million raised in hard money is bound to be seen as formidable for his 2004 prospects.

The PAC of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., had about $800,000 to spend as of June 30. For the year, it has taken in just under $1.2 million — all of it hard money. This quarter, contributors sent more than $542,000, and ROCPAC, named after the New Democrat mantra of Responsibility, Opportunity and Community, reported spending just over $80,000.

Lieberman's re-election account will have approximately $600,000 on hand when it reports to the Federal Election Commission next week, according to a memo prepared by ROCPAC's executive director, Sherry Brown. ROCPAC does not have a soft-money account.

When the PAC reported to the FEC in April, its representatives pointed reporters toward his disbursements, with political activity being seen as a marker for future friendliness to a presidential candidate seeking votes, favors, money or delegates.

Most Favored States

Lieberman's key contributions in Iowa and New Hampshire include $10,000 to Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's re-election campaign and $5,000 each to the New Hampshire House Democratic Caucus and the Iowa Democratic Party. In May, the PAC gave $5,000 to the New Hampshire Senate Democratic Caucus.

Kerry's PAC gave $1,000 to lawyer John Norris' campaign for Iowa's 4th Congressional District seat.

Daschle contributed $1,000, to Iowa Rep. Leonard Boswell's re-election committee.

Edwards gave $5,000 to Boswell, $1,500 to House candidate Martha Fuller Clark of New Hampshire, $9,000 to Sen. Tom Harkin's primary and general eleciton accounts, $5,000 to Norris's bid, $2,500 to Katrina Swett's New Hampshire congressional bid, and $2,500 to physician Julie Thomas's campaign in Iowa's 3rd Dstrict.

Lieberman's ROCPAC also gave $2,500 to the group that is pushing a politically controversial class-size reduction initiative in Florida—a very important issue to Florida Democrats. Edwards' PAC contributed $3,000 to the same campaign.

The New Democrat Network, a PAC co-founded by Lieberman, has taken in $361,000 since the year began, and has raised and spent more than $3.3 million since November of 2000.

Careful Giving

Candidates across the country received maximum donations from the presidential possibles.

Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk's bid for the Senate seat being vacated by Phil Gramm in Texas netted $2,000 from Kerry's PAC, $5,000 from Lieberman's PAC, and $8,000 from Daschle. Lieberman and Daschle each gave $5,000 to the Texas Democratic Party.

Kirk reported raising $1.8 million, besting by just $100,000 the total reported by his opponent, Attorney General John Cornyn. Both campaigns pointed out that a majority of their contributors lived in Texas. Kirk's fund-raising trips to Washington have been criticized by Cornyn's spokespeople. Cornyn ends the quarter with nearly $4 million to spend, while Kirk has about $1.3 million in his account.