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McCain's Money
Atlantic.com ^ | April 8th, 2008 | Reihan Salam

Posted on 04/08/2008 9:51:01 PM PDT by The_Republican

As Marc Ambinder reports, the McCain campaign raised only $4 million online and through direct mail. Barack Obama, meanwhile, has over 1.3 million donors, a number that will surely increase if he wins the Democratic nomination. So far, McCain has caught a lucky break.


(Excerpt) Read more at thecurrent.theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: financing; mccain; outraised; public
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1 posted on 04/08/2008 9:51:02 PM PDT by The_Republican
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To: The_Republican

Build the wall, Senator.

Keep Guantanamo and “Waterboarding,” Senator.

Or your candidacy wilts on the vine.


2 posted on 04/08/2008 9:55:14 PM PDT by Petronski (Nice job, Hillary. Now go home and get your shine box.)
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To: The_Republican

Hitlery and Osama are spending their money as fast as it comes in. In Hitlery’s case faster. She has lent $5 million to her campaign and owes vendors $8 million. I used to think she was staying in the race to get the nomination in 2012, now I think she just doesn’t want to get stuck with the tab if the donations dry up. Osama is spending 3 times as much in PA (2.2 million on ads alone) as the Beast. Doesn’t look like she wants it too bad. McCain doesn’t need to do anything except travel from fundraiser to fundraiser. He has been averaging a fundraiser a day. Last month He raised a million in FL with Crist, and $2 million in NY. He’ll spend practically nothing until the rats pick a dog.


3 posted on 04/08/2008 9:58:27 PM PDT by Once-Ler (I sure am going to miss President Bush on inauguration day)
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To: The_Republican

If McCain came to MY HOUSE and asked for money, I wouldn’t give him any. I would give him directions to some farms not far from where I live where illegals are employed. They would be happy to contribute I’m sure.


4 posted on 04/08/2008 10:03:57 PM PDT by KoRn (CTHULHU '08 - I won't settle for a lesser evil any longer!)
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To: The_Republican

Doesn’t McCain have his own personal pot of money? He isn’t exactly a pauper.


5 posted on 04/08/2008 10:04:05 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: The_Republican

McCain doesn’t need small donors. He’s got George Soros.


6 posted on 04/08/2008 10:07:53 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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To: The_Republican
It seems that McCain is counting on Obama to abide by his pledge to accept public financing provided his Republican opponent does the same.

If so... then: Juan McCain is only moderately brighter, at best, than a cherrystone clam.

7 posted on 04/08/2008 10:07:57 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (McCain "conservatives" = hardcore liberals who nonetheless appreciate the occasional tax cut.)
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To: KoRn
Don't worry with radical leftist Obama wealth redistribution plan and giving illegals driver licenses.They will own your home with radical Dem party controlled over three branches of gov’t Now thanks to you staying home and soon to be former home !
8 posted on 04/08/2008 10:14:44 PM PDT by ncalburt
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To: The_Republican
The McCains haters are back !!!!
Helping there favorite Obama to get elected !!
You will just love his hate whitey , America, Jews, and
Military radical left wing hell hole you will help create !
9 posted on 04/08/2008 10:18:34 PM PDT by ncalburt
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To: EternalVigilance
Still peddling the same pack of lies !
How many times have you posted this tired lie again ?
I guess its slow night at the DU !
Just ignore the Soros/Penny Protzkker non stop leftist billionaire parties hosted for Osama Obama !
10 posted on 04/08/2008 10:22:15 PM PDT by ncalburt
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To: ncalburt

Lies?

Hardly.

McCain’s “Reform Institute,” his vehicle for destroying free speech and grassroots activism, has been funded since ‘01 by George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry, among others. McCain’s top campaign staffers have pulled down big salaries from the Reform Institute, even when everyone said McCain’s campaign was supposedly broke.

Don’t know how you missed it.


11 posted on 04/08/2008 10:28:53 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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To: The_Republican; Petronski; KoRn
It seems that McCain is counting on Obama to abide by his pledge to accept public financing provided his Republican opponent does the same.

... annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, immediately thereafter:

Obama Prepares Argument to Discard Public-Financing Principle

McCain 2008: "Just Like A Real Presidential Campaign... Only Run By Crackheads, Instead!"

12 posted on 04/08/2008 10:29:34 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (McCain "conservatives" = hardcore liberals who nonetheless appreciate the occasional tax cut.)
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To: ncalburt

http://www.crosstabs.org/blogs/swamp_yankee/2008/jan/28/through_the_weeds_john_mccain_george_soros_and_the_reform_institute

Through The Weeds; John McCain, George Soros and the Reform Institute

What is the Reform Institute? According to their website, “The Reform Institute was founded in 2001 in direct response to the millions of Americans who, during the 2000 presidential campaign, expressed profound disillusionment with corrupt fundraising activities and the political closed shop.” In other words, it was founded by people who thought Bush stole the election - McCain Republicans and Democrats. They all thought they were robbed by the electoral process. “Big Baby Institute” seems more fitting title for their organization.

Among the noble causes they support are immigration reform (amnesty), campaign finance reform (trashing freedom of speech) and something called “Democracy & Elections”, which is a euphemism for ending closed primaries. This goes back to that bitterness thing. Independents and Democrats should choose Republican candidates not Republicans. They also support “climate change” initiatives. Gee, you think this organization has any influence on John McCain? Guess who is also a member - Lindsey Graham.

Right from the start McCain’s people dominated the Reform Institute. McCain was honorary chair. His campaign manager in the 2000 election, Richard Davis, is the president of the Reform Institute. Research reveals that the initial crew over at the Reform Institute reads like a whose who of former McCain staffers. There is a direct link from the end of the 2000 campaign to McCain staffers finding sanctuary in the halls of the Reform Institute created in 2001.

Although the Reform Institute is comprised of Democrats and Republicans, all their efforts appear to aid liberal causes. It’s marketed as a bi-partisan “reform” organization, but it is nothing but a liberal minded think tank that uses wishy washy Republicans to water down the Republican brand and turn liberal Republican causes into “moderate” Republican causes. Conservative debate is being altered and liberal ideas are infiltrating the Republican Party because groups like this. There is a word for people like these - tools. Senators McCain and Graham, you are a couple of tools. You are being used liberals and you are too dumb to see it.

Who supports and funds the Reform Institute. Read the list for yourself. It’s a whose who of some of the most liberal groups in America including George Soros’s organization. Senator McCain surely knows something about dirty money. Doesn’t money corrupt politics Senator McCain. That McCain and his people rub elbows with these subversive elements is disgusting. Yes, McCain staffers and friends and Senator Graham are being funded by George Soros and people of his ilk. Read the list. It’s enough to make a real conservative vomit.

http://www.reforminstitute.org/about/AboutDonors.aspx

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004026.php

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=The_Reform_Institute


13 posted on 04/08/2008 10:35:03 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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To: ncalburt

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004026.php

March 9, 2005
Inside McCain’s Reform Institute

When CQ first covered the Bradley Smith interview that started the blogswarm on the FEC and the BCRA this week, I noted several unusual relationships between the donors and the institute, all hinging on Richard Davis, RI’s president and John McCain’s campaign manager. Since Davis also acts as McCain’s chief political advisor, I found it odd that the RI — which pays Davis a $110,000 “consulting fee” annually instead of a salary as its president — received money from donors such as the sources that follow below.

Bear in mind, please, that foundations don’t just line up to hand out cash. Rick Davis has to apply and then campaign for these funds, as budgets are limited even for the richest foundations. They carefully select their grantees to ensure that they support the overall mission of the foundation. Why would a close political advisor to John McCain go to these sources almost exclusively for the major funding of the non-profit that seeks to support McCain, a supposedly conservative Republican?

* The Tides Foundation, which heavily promotes “reproductive justice”, giving over $500,000 to pro-abortion efforts. They also actively oppose the death penalty (so do I, FYI). John McCain opposes abortion and supports the death penalty, so why is his chief political advisor getting so much support from those who ostensibly oppose him?

* Educational Foundation Of America, which also supports abortion. EFA also opposes drilling in ANWR, an issue on which McCain has an ambivalent record. It also supports euthanasia and assisted suicide through the Death With Dignity National Center, a group which it gave $45,000. It gave $100,000 to the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, which opposed the Yucca Mountain nuclear depository (McCain supported it), and opposes development of low-yield nuclear “bunker buster” bombs, which McCain supports.

In fact, EFA appears to contribute to just about every left-wing cause imaginable, as well as a number of noncontriversial charities and outreach efforts.

* The Proteus Fund, which also opposed the Yucca Mountain repository, spending $75K to stop it. That pales in comparison to the $935K they spent on supporting gay marriage initiatives, which McCain strongly opposes. They have also spent over $800,000 funding nuclear-disarmament and antiwar causes in each of the last two years. Their Security Policy Working Group contains nothing but left-of-center groups like Project on Defense Alternatives, which calls the Iraqi elections “faulty” and predicted disaster for the Bush administration’s “program of coercive transformation throughout the region.”

* OSI (Open Society Institute), founded and funded by George Soros. Among a litany of left-wing causes supported by OSI are People For The American Way, to support their Supreme Court Project. (Hint: It isn’t intended on assisting Bush get his nominees confirmed.) They also gave $150,000 to the Campaign Legal Center, which will be important shortly.

* David Geffen Foundation also shows up on the list, although not in the top tier. David Geffen is an entertainment-industry mogul who supports Democrats and left-wing causes. They do not have a website I could find, but Activistcash.com notes that in 2002, most of the grants Geffen gave went to environmental activists and the Tides Foundation and Tides Center.

But the oddities don’t end at the donors page for Reform Institute. We’ve already detailed how McCain’s chief political advisor earns a six-figure income from the nonprofit which heavily promotes McCain and the BCRA. As the New York Times noted yesterday, RI provides a back-channel method of keeping his campaign staff employed without McCain having to do any fundraising for his political campaigns — and avoiding the donation caps that come into play for his donors. And Davis isn’t the only beneficiary of this loophole.

Trevor Potter works as General Counsel to the Reform Institute. Coincidentally or not, Potter also worked as general counsel to McCain during his 2000 run for the presidency. Potter also is employed as President and General Counsel to the Campaign Legal Center, making him a direct beneficiary of the George Soros donation to this non-profit group as well as at RI. Potter also released a “don’t worry, be happy” statement about the FEC’s decision not to appeal the Shays-Meehan lawsuit judgment overturning the Internet exemption to the BCRA which failed to disclose Potter’s connections to RI, Soros, or McCain.

John McCain, who has long campaigned on a promise to rid politics of big money, not only has built himself a lucrative third-party solution for fundraising but also a shelter to keep two of his top campaign operatives employed between elections. These top strategists also have an odd taste for funding sources, considering McCain’s public positions on key issues for his base. That money pays their salaries and indicates a certain amount of influence among McCain’s political staff. It demonstrates better than anything else could the corrosive nature of hidden money and back-channel dealings, which the BCRA not only doesn’t resolve but almost requires for campaign fundraising.

This shows the futility of the BCRA just as much as it does the hypocrisy of John McCain in creating it and expanding it. The only solution for corruption is direct contributions that get immediate and full disclosure, not limitations on political speech. I can’t think of a better example than the Byzantine mess I’ve described above to make that point.


14 posted on 04/08/2008 10:38:46 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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To: ncalburt

Your turn to prove your claim that I’m a DUer and a liar, champ.


15 posted on 04/08/2008 10:39:32 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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To: The_Republican
I'll say it again. Something smells about all this “little guy” Internet fund raising.
16 posted on 04/08/2008 10:40:41 PM PDT by OeOeO (maybe I didn't come over on the Mayflower, but I got here as soon as I could" Anton Cermak)
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To: The_Republican
I keep seeing Dale Gribble(King of the Hill) in a John McQueeq disquise..
Clacking two ball bearings together.. Somebody WAKE ME UP...
17 posted on 04/08/2008 10:44:03 PM PDT by hosepipe (CAUTION: This propaganda is laced with hyperbole....)
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To: ncalburt
Don't worry with radical leftist Obama wealth redistribution plan and giving illegals driver licenses.They will own your home with radical Dem party controlled over three branches of gov’t Now thanks to you staying home and soon to be former home !

I have a news flash for you, lord McCain's guest workers are already in the process of the redistributing of our wealth. Who do you think pays for the education and health care of lord McCain's guest workers.... you and me and every other American tax payer. WE do not have to WAIT for Obama to start his plan.

18 posted on 04/08/2008 10:45:13 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Isa.3:4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.)
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To: ncalburt
and giving illegals driver licenses.

Jaw-droppingly imbecilic argument for a McCain supporter to be advancing, of all people.

Just sayin', is all.

19 posted on 04/08/2008 10:47:46 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle (McCain "conservatives" = hardcore liberals who nonetheless appreciate the occasional tax cut.)
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To: ncalburt

What, no response?

How troll-like.


20 posted on 04/08/2008 10:53:00 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (With "Republicans" like these, who needs Democrats?)
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