Posted on 12/12/2002 6:54:13 PM PST by hoosierskypilot
W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 12 — Former Vice President Al Gore might be able to tap as much as $7 million in unrestricted campaign cash now gathering dust in an obscure account from his 2000 race, giving his candidacy a potentially significant boost should he decide to seek the Democratic presidential nomination.
The funds could vault Gore to the top of the money race, in which he now lags behind several other Democratic presidential hopefuls. Last week, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts transferred $3.1 million to his presidential exploratory committee. And Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has amassed several million dollars between his campaign and political action committee. Other potential candidates, like Vermont's Howard Dean, are squirreling away as much money as possible.
Gore's political action committee, Leadership '02, reported just $21,000 in available money as of Nov. 25.
The extra early money could help Gore hire staff, build networks of supporters, and travel to fund-raisers in the key primary states, allowing Gore the time and giving him the resources to collect from former supporters who may have deserted him for another candidate.
The $7 million would come from a bank account Gore and his running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, set up in 2000, a general election legal and accounting compliance fund, or GELAC.
Kelly Huff, a Federal Election Commission spokeswoman, said that as soon as the Gore-Lieberman committee had paid its debts, the fund's treasurer could transfer the money into Gore's 2004 presidential account should he set one up.
Other campaign law experts said they didn't know whether money solicited for GELACs could be used for explicit political advocacy. But they did not know of any FEC advisory opinion prohibiting it. Whether Mr. Gore is obliged to obtain Sen. Lieberman's permission was also unclear, they said.
FEC rules allow campaigns to open funds to help nominated presidential candidates defray the costs indirectly associated with running a campaign, like handling legal challenges that crop up late in the election season.
Those costs can be significant, sometimes topping several million dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
A paltry $7 million? No way. John F. Kerry-Heinz vaults to the top of the money race every time he climbs into bed with his wife.
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