Did Huckabee Tap (Kenneth)Copeland's (Very) Deep Pockets?

The Ledger ^ | January 28, 2008 | Cary McMullen

[2ndDivisionVet]

Via the folks at the Trinity Foundation/Wittenburg Door, there is a report that GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee reached out to televangelist Kenneth Copeland for some fundraising help. Copeland is one of several televangelists under investigation by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and a proponent of the so-called "prosperity gospel." Trinity cites a blog post by former George H.W. Bush staffer Doug Wead to the effect that Huckabee called Copeland during a ministers' conference last week that Copeland was hosting. Wead reports: "Copeland, carefully observing all the laws governing non profits, as a private citizen, re-convened a private meeting, turned to his friends and raised $111,000 in cash and reportedly a cool million in promises for Huckabee." Wead says he has two sources about the contact.

The Trinity Foundation is famous for its undercover work on televangelists, and they posted on the Wittenburg Door Web site a video clip in which Copeland tells the ministers about getting a phone call from Huckabee. (The link also has some other clips of Copeland talking about various topics, including Grassley, Trinity and his wealth.)

The Trinity folks seem to think Copeland may have violated IRS rules. Copeland could probably fund Huckabee's campaign all by himself, but if Huckabee is hitting up Copeland for money, it could be a sign of desperation that he isn't getting funds from a broader range of GOP money men. Wead's theory is that Huckabee has actually waited too long to get organizational support from evangelical leaders and cites the Bush 1 and 2 experiences.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Why aren't the rank-and-file voters giving Huckabee money? Hmmmmmmm

[livius]

Rank and file voters have trouble giving anybody money after McCain-Finegold. A candidate virtually has to be independently wealthy to win nowadays (which is why I think the winner will be Romney, who is independently wealthy and can spend everybody else into oblivion).

I worked with the local GOP during the last election, and the little old ladies who did the recording of donations were in mortal fear of making an error that would end up with jail or a fine. For example, if there was a fundraising dinner and one person bought a table, simply for convenience, and then his friends bought their tickets from him, it counted as an illegal contribution. And if they didn’t record it correctly (remember, these are elderly volunteers) they were considered to have participated in the “crime.”

McCain Finegold essentially made the little donor completely meaningless.

[Joya]

Huck getting desperate for money; mark this thread.