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.
So, just curious, what party was the third party candidate,
Freegards.
Frist has the tools to fight fire with fire. I would take a close look at the Beer Monopoly group and find an issue that kicks them right in the ba--s. Then you would see them crying in their beer. This the group that for years fought to keep beer prices from being advertised. To protect the consumers of course.
About time you showed up. Jer 29:11, and Jer 29:13
Expecting Rushmore Rocks at the Lincoln Day Dinner as well, and possibly Black Cloud, a Freeper of some renoun, who gave a personal check to the Park Service, to keep the lights burning at Mt Rushmore during the time the Republicans shut down the govt. Yea Right it was the Republicans. NOT!
We can only dream that someone would have the good sense to shut down the government for a year just to see how we did. Just send your personal check to the military service of your choice. After all they aren't "the Government", and we certainly need them.
Only humans "speak" when they give money to someone. Expressly forbid "corporations" from doing the same and restore the rule of law bump!
-- he's the representative of the National Association of Beer Wholesalers, and is concerned with advancing their commercial agenda.
Swell, just swell; this nation is collapsing from within at an ever increasing pace as most do not understand the importance of moral character over immoral or amoral character.
Do you think that we will yet see the destruction of the Republican Party from within its own ranks?
We may already have and just don't know it yet.
What will the "issues" be when a Daschle-led dimocrat majority in the Senate de-funds the war on terrorism? Slimey idiots! If we are ducking and dodging suicide Islamo-terrorists in our streets, trains and schools it won't matter that Dash-hole conned you into believing he believed in anything but power and the abuse thereof. Sigh.
I'll meet you guys there at Elli's booth at 5:30.
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