Posted on 05/21/2004 5:32:28 AM PDT by Theodore R.
Republicans line up to finance top Democrat By Deborah McGregor
Published: May 21 2004 5:00 | Last Updated: May 21 2004 5:00
In a campaign seasonwhen President George W. Bush has shattered records for campaign fundraising, John Thune has the dubious distinction of being the rarest of political creatures: a Republican Senate candidate strapped for cash.
Hand-picked by the Bush White House, Mr Thune, a lanky former congressman, is running for the Senate in South Dakota, challenging Democrat Tom Daschle in one of the fiercest contests in this year's elections.
The South Dakota race is much more than just another tight Senate race. If Mr Daschle wins, there is a chance he will regain his position as Senate majority leader. As top Democrat in the Senate, he has become a magnet for political donations from business.
Even though Mr Thune is regarded as a strong pro-business candidate, companies and trade associations have donated more than three times as much money to Mr Daschle.
In the first quarter of this year, Mr Thune received just $93,000 (€78,000, £52,500) from business political action committees, against Mr Daschle's $322,000.
This weekend, Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, will make an unusual trip to South Dakota to help raise funds for Mr Thune, breaking a longstanding Senate tradition of party leaders not campaigning personally against each other.
But that is perhaps less remarkable than the sight of Republican lobbyists scurrying to fill Mr Daschle's campaign coffers.
David Rehr, a former House Republican aide who is now a lobbyist for the National Association of Beer Wholesalers, makes no apology for contributing to Mr Daschle's campaign.
"It did raise a few eyebrows," admits Mr Rehr, chuckling. "When people looked at me - a Republican and a big supporter of this president - they sort of said: 'Hey, what's going on?' John Thune is a good friend of mine and I had to tell him we would be giving to Daschle, not to him. But it's nothing personal. It's more about trying to re-elect someone who has been with us on the issues."
The business support for Mr Daschle highlights the power of incumbency in Washington. It also reveals the pragmatic nature of political giving: Democrats are deemed to have an increasingly good shot at regaining control of the Senate. That would put Mr Daschle back in the powerful position of majority leader.
Business donors shy away from saying it that way, preferring to cloak their largesse in nuanced language about how Mr Daschle has backed their interests and furthered their causes as a leading senator and how much they admire him. But the level of business donations favouring Mr Daschle over Mr Thune is a good leading indicator of where business sees the battle for the Senate going.
Steve Largent, a former Oklahoma congressman and president of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, representing the wireless phone industry, is another prominent Republican lobbyist. His organisation has given $1,000 to Mr Daschle.
"He [Daschle] was very involved in working on legislation to get the internet tax moratorium, which was critical for our members," says Mr Largent. "What we do is give money to people who support our issues."
In an effort to help Mr Thune offset Mr Daschle's advantage, a group of Republican lobbyists held a fundraising event in Washington on Tuesday evening. Andrew Card, the White House chief of staff, was keynote speaker at the event - closed to the media - which raised about $140,000 for Mr Thune.
"It is tough, there's no question, when you're up against someone like Daschle, but John [Thune] is an excellent candidate and he will do fine," says Jade West, a former Senate Republican aide who helped organise the Thune fundraiser as a lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
Mr Thune is one of two candidates this group of Republican lobbyists has selected to raise funds for this year, says Ms West.
The other is Richard Burr, the Republican candidate in the hotly contested North Carolina Senate race.
Mr Daschle's campaign is unfazed by the excitement. The Frist visit, while expected to generate media attention, simply underscores Mr Thune's dependence on his Washington friends, according to Dan Pfeiffer, a spokesman for Mr Daschle.
"Visiting politicians from Washington are not going to decide how this election comes out," says Mr Pfeiffer. "This is between John Thune and Tom Daschle."
In a state Mr Bush carried by 22 percentage points in 2000, it is also about the Iraq war, the economy and concerns such as beef imports from Canada. But when it comes to political giving, nothing, it seems, is sacred.
Major League Baseball gave $4,000 to Mr Daschle, even though many of the league's owners are big supporters of Mr Bush - who once owned a baseball team.
Uh...I know you'll find this hard to believe, but....
www.johnthune.com/
Told you guy before he announce you should have sent him $10,000 donations.
No $2K limit before he announces, just the $11K anual gift limit.
Did any of the lame T.D. contributers ever look at T.D.'s efforts AGAINST their interests?
The list is much longer than his effort for their interests.
Sorry, meant Governorship.
You are seeing it now. This is what happens when you have weak leadership at the top.
www.johnthune.com been there, done that, please join me.
This guy is not a representative of the electorate, or the "once conservative Republican Party" -- he's the representative of the National Association of Beer Wholesalers, and is concerned with advancing their commercial agenda. Apparently Daschle has voted for the interests of the NABW -- he has been there on THEIR issues.
HELLO, the "sunshine" in question is a lobbyist for the National Association of Beer Wholesalers first, Republican second. He's concerned with the issues of the National Association of Beer Wholesalers.
Am I the only one who read the article?
DONATE PEOPLE.
Visit my web site at tag line. I have a Prairie States-Pioneer Spirit page. Thune and the other GOP guy's info is on my page. floriduh voter
No, I read it as well. I'm sorry my comment confused you.
OK, everyone, Time for true conservatives to get their checkbooks out!
Almost like the Prez and Santorum backing specter...almost.
Insanity.
FMCDH
The third party candidate lost it for Largent. It's a crying shame because the democrap gov of OK is a pro abortion creep from hell.
But I read a few weeks ago that this proabortion governor of OK is very popular and may be able to help his party snatch the Nickles seat away in November even though Bush will routinely carry "conservative" OK. Both the governor and the new senator would be named "Brad."
Bill Frist is going to help Thune per world net daily or drudge. Can't remember which site.
Bill Frist will be the featured speaker at the Pennington County (Rapid City, SD) Lincoln Day Dinner tomorrow, 22 May. He'll be there supporting John Thune's run for the Senate seat that little tommy daschle currently abuses.
Also at the dinner will be Larry Deidrich, running for SD's open House seat vacated by Bill Janklow. Larry is running against SD's version of Hitlery, Stepahnie Herseth. They are in a statistical dead heat with the momentum on Deidrich's side. Lynn Cheney was in Rapid City today stumping for Larry winning the special election on 01 June. She did a great job and fuguratively thumbed her nose at daschle!
Things are getting mighty interesting in SD. Both the House & Senate races are in statistical dead heats with the Dems showing no momentum. Republicans are coming on strong. Reservation vote shows signs of splitting. We'll see how the Democrat vote fraud machine works this year!
Y'all are in my prayers, my friend.
Thanks for that good report!
Could South Dakota be the next Florida? lol I hope you have as much fun as we always do at election time.
Good to see you again EV and fv.
Along with wita and cameronsmom I expect to be at the Pennington County Lincoln Day Dinner tomorrow night. Should be able to give you some more fun SD Freeper tidbits after that.
FRegards!
And, I might add, not much of an American either.
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