Edwards Raises $7.4M for Presidential Run

Associated Press ^ | 04/02/03 | SHARON THEIMER, Associated Press Writer

[TC Rider]

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Edwards (news, bio, voting record), one of the first Democrats to enter the 2004 presidential race, said Tuesday his campaign raised about $7.4 million in the first three months of this year.

The total was likely to put Edwards among fund-raising front-runners in what is now a nine-way competition for the Democratic nomination. Other hopefuls planned to announce their first-quarter totals in coming days.

The North Carolina senator has crisscrossed the country for months, developing a national network of volunteer fund-raisers and holding dozens of fund-raising events, including stops in Democratic donor hot spots New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"In the first quarter, fund raising was a priority and we couldn't be more pleased with Senator Edwards' strong showing," spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said. "At this point in the campaign, raising money isn't just about having resources. Money begets money, and it's proving the vitality of your campaign to other potential supporters and to the media, frankly, and to voters."

Nearly $1 million came from North Carolina donors, including $320,000 from a fund-raising swing through the state in January the weekend after Edwards announced his White House bid.

In the second fund-raising quarter, from now through June, Edwards will continue raising campaign cash but make more trips to his home state and key primary states, Palmieri said, including Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

One of the other early entrants in the race, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has said he expected to raise at least $1.5 million from January through March, meeting his goal.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (news, bio, voting record) and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt (news - web sites) were expected to exceed $4 million each in first-quarter fund-raising.

It remained to be seen whether they or any of the other candidates would outpace the 2000 Democratic nominee, then-Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites), who raised nearly $9 million in his campaign's first quarter.

The candidates' first campaign finance reports are due at the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) on April 15.

At least six of the Democrats have said they plan to accept public financing for their campaigns and the spending limits that come with it. They include Edwards, Dean, Gephardt, Al Sharpton, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich (news, bio, voting record).

Under the presidential public financing system — funded by taxpayers with a $3 checkoff on their returns — qualifying candidates get government money to match up to $250 of each contribution, up to the entitlement limit.

In the 2000 primaries, Gore received $16.9 million in "matching funds" and was limited to $40.5 million in spending. President Bush (news - web sites) turned away public financing in the Republican primaries and raised more than $100 million; he has not yet entered the 2004 race, but is considered likely to do so and skip matching funds.

The FEC is considering changes in the public financing system. On Thursday, it will decide whether to hold a hearing next month on several proposals.

Questions it may seek public comment on include:

_ Whether host committees formed to help parties cover the costs of presidential nominating conventions should be able to continue accepting corporate and labor union contributions, and whether federal officeholders should be able to raise such "soft money" for them.

National parties — which receive taxpayer money for the conventions — and federal officeholders are banned from raising soft money for federal elections under a new campaign finance law.

_ Whether presidential candidates who accept public financing should be able to pay themselves a salary out of their campaign funds. The commission decided last year to let congressional candidates tap campaign funds to help cover any lost wages, to encourage candidates who otherwise could not afford to run.

Commissioner Michael Toner said he also wants to gather comment on how the FEC should treat spending by multicandidate committees like "leadership PACs" on presidential testing-the-waters activities such as polling. Toner proposes counting such spending against contribution and spending limits for candidates who take public financing and contribution limits for those who skip public funding.

Several Democratic hopefuls started leadership PACs in the last election season to raise money for fellow party members and raise their own profiles nationally. Toner said his proposal, if approved, would take effect with the 2008 race.

[Darth Reagan]

And did this Jennifer Palmieri also date Ari Fleischer? See Matalin-Carville Redux? When Ari Met Jenny.

[TC Rider]

yuck. I hope he dumped her.