s me laugh every time I see it.
Posted on 11/17/2004 2:59:16 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Democratic Party leaders said Wednesday they want to know why Sen. John Kerry ended his presidential campaign with more than $15 million in the bank, money that could have helped Democratic candidates across the country.
Some said he will be pressured to give the money to Democratic campaign committees rather than save it for a potential White House bid in 2008.
"Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our way with a few more million dollars," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 presidential race.
Brazile is a member of the 400-plus member Democratic National Committee, which meets early next year to pick a new party chairman. One high-ranking member of the DNC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said word of Kerry's nest egg has stirred anger on the committee and could hurt his chances of putting an ally in the chairmanship.
Congressional Democrats and labor leaders also privately questioned Kerry's motives. One said he would personally ask the Massachusetts senator to donate some of the money to the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees.
Three former Kerry campaign aides, also demanding anonymity out of concerns about alienating their former boss, said they were surprised and disappointed to learn that he left so much money in the bank.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
ooopppsss!
Wasn't Kerry sitting on it so he could contest the outcome? He wanted recount money to pay lawyers?
How sad. What a pathetic party.
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAA! What a dufus!
You *#*# the whore, you pay her.
s me laugh every time I see it.
I love it!
Hahahahaha, maybe he can give George Soros a refund!
I thought I saw a story on this yesterday that mentioned the amount of 45 million, plus some left from the legal defense fund. Does anyone remember that? I may have seen it on Drudge.
Anyway, I hope he gets lambasted all over Washington. I wonder if he ever paid back the loan of 6 million he got for his wife's house back during the primary? That loan was supposed to be paid for before the election out of campaign money.
She Who Must Not Be Named just pocketed an envelope, chuckling...
Oops, it isn't just republicans who quickly turn against their candidate once the election is over!
Three former Kerry campaign aides, also demanding anonymity out of concerns about alienating their former boss, said they were surprised and disappointed to learn that he left so much money in the bank.
Kerry had roughly $45 million left in his primary campaign fund as of mid-October, according to his Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) report, and could use that as seed money for another presidential bid.
His final report is not due until next month, but officials close to Kerry said he has $15 million to $17 million in that account, with no outstanding debts, after giving the DNC about $23 million and state parties about $9 million since the mid-October report.
In addition, the report showed that Kerry had about $7 million on hand in a legal and accounting compliance fund that he could use for legal expenses in a 2008 campaign. Officials said he raised several million more for that account since the filing.
Last summer, Kerry donated $3 million each to the House and Senate campaign committees and $2 million to the Democratic Governors Association.
While Kerry has likely given more money to state committees than any other nominee, no other Democrat has raised as much as he did. And second-guessing Democrats said Wednesday they couldn't recall a candidate leaving so much money on the table after a campaign.
"He's going to have to give some of it up for 2005 and beyond," Brazile said. "The party will demand it."
I beleive he has an additional 7 million in legal & accounting money that he can hold onto all the way to 2008.
I think that money has to be seperate, doesn't it?
He's probably got some of that, too; didn't we hear 15 million?
15 million? I heard it's closer to 45 million.
I can think of two reasons:
1) Kerry was convinced he was going to win and was trying to get a head start on the 2008 reelection campaign. He probably felt he had overspent and no amount of additional spending was going to change the outcome.
2) Kerry was convinced he was going to lose and was trying to conserve cash in a losing effort. No sense in throwing good money away after bad. He probably felt he had overspent and no amount of additional spending was going to change the outcome.
This goes a long way toward answering one of the questions I have had about Kerry. I have been wondering if John was his name or his occupation.
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