Posted on 10/15/2003 8:20:15 PM PDT by HAL9000
WASHINGTON — Eli Broad, a Los Angeles philanthropist and one of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, said Tuesday he is putting his money on retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Little Rock to take the White House away from George W. Bush.Broad, whose wealth is estimated at around $4 billion by Forbes magazine, said campaign finance reports to be disclosed today will show that he and his wife, Edythe, have given the maximum — $2,000 each — to Clark for his battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clark’s first Federal Election Commission report, due to be disclosed today, is expected to show at least $3.5 million already raised for his campaign and possibly more.
While Clark’s total will lag far behind those of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean or Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Clark backers say he already is showing a fund-raising prowess that will make him a major factor in the fight for the Democratic nomination. He has been in the race only a month.
The Associated Press reported Tuesday that fund-raising is going so well for Dean and Clark that both are considering opting out of public financing for their campaigns, a move that would eliminate spending limits.
Clark’s office said late Tuesday, however, that no such decision has been made.
Meanwhile, the retired general continues to fly to fundraisers held in his honor around the country. "I understand what he [Clark] has done in two or three weeks is a record," Broad said in a telephone interview. "I think he will have the resources he needs to be competitive."
Among other things, Broad said Clark benefits from his association with former President Clinton. "Everybody knows he is Clinton’s favorite," Broad said.
Clinton and his wife, New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, however, have denied they favor Clark over the others, despite their Arkansas connections. Another major Democratic fund-raiser who may be getting behind Clark is Nathan Landow of Bethesda, Md. Landow raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in the 1990s. Landow’s name as a likely Clark backer was mentioned Tuesday by attorney George Bruno of Manchester, N. H., who is helping to organize Clark’s campaign in that state. Landow was traveling Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
Landow, a Maryland developer, gained notoriety in the Clinton-Gore years as the person who hired a private investigator to research Kathleen Willey, a Virginia woman who claimed that Clinton had groped her in the White House.
Expected to be missing from today’s FEC reports, meanwhile, are contributions to any of the Democratic candidates from most of organized labor, including the AFL-CIO, which has not made an endorsement.
Another key labor organization yet to endorse a candidate is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. But officials from the government workers union say they are watching Clark’s campaign closely to see how it develops.
Broad, meanwhile, said one of the reasons Clark will have little trouble raising money for his campaign is that the other eight candidates have failed to excite many prominent contributors. "After all these months, people are still yawning," Broad said of the other Democratic candidates.
While he has given some money to other Democratic candidates, Broad said Clark is the only candidate who will get the $2,000 maximum from him. Federal election laws allow individual contributors to give candidates up to $2,000 for a primary race and another $2,000 for the general election.
Clark, 58, former supreme allied commander of NATO, has come under heavy criticism from his rivals, many of whom question his Democratic credentials and accuse him of vacillating on answers to key questions about Iraq.
Broad dismissed such criticism, which highlighted a debate among the Democratic candidates last week in Arizona. "To most people that’s inside politics. It’s old news," Broad said. He added that as "the front-runner," Clark has to expect such attacks.
Clark has also gotten negative press over the past week for a series of stumbles blamed on his campaign staff, including internal disagreements that led to the resignation of campaign manager Donnie Fowler.
The campaign hoped to turn that trend around Tuesday with the announcement of its opening of a state office in New Hampshire. The Clark team is taking over the former Manchester office of Florida Sen. Bob Graham, who dropped out of the Democratic nomination fight last week.
Broad, though, said Clark wowed wealthy Californians at a fund-raiser held Oct. 1 in the home of television producer Norman Lear. Broad was one of those attending.
Broad said he expects Clark’s FEC report to show many $2,000 contributions from that fund-raiser at Lear’s West Los Angeles home. "He was extremely impressive," Broad said. "Out of all the Democratic candidates, he is the most qualified to take on the issues of terrorism, foreign policy and domestic security."
Broad, a major player in Los Angeles civic affairs, especially schools, said he first met Clark and became impressed with him three years ago, when the general flew in from Europe to interview for a job as superintendent of the Los Angeles school system. Clark was preparing to leave his post at NATO headquarters in Belgium to enter civilian life.
Further, Broad said he likes that Clark, after a 34-year military career, only recently declared himself a Democrat. That associates him even more with the political middle. "That’s appealing to a lot of us," he said. "He will be a new Democrat, a centrist."
He is a wiener! A back stabbing no good wiener!
While Clark’s total will lag far behind those of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean or Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, Clark backers say he already is showing a fund-raising prowess that will make him a major factor in the fight for the Democratic nomination.Hell... if I had the backing of x42rapist/perjurer and The Hildabeaste and the DNC, via McAwful, I could raise lots of cash, too.
Clark is a pathetic joke and a puppet for those previously mentioned.
Didn't we just finish trying this for eight miserable years?
He's all about a being a candidate who can win.
Sound familiar?
Hoooooly cow...as a Giant fan, I have always "hated" the Dodgers. If Soros had purchased them, the quotation marks would have come off the above sentence.
Gee, would that be the same Nate Landow who was involved with the infamous "Portals" building scandal, as well as the guy who tried to strong arm some Indian tribes?
Sheesh, where to start?!
Clark was a perfumed prince in the military who uniformly annoyed, angered, and was opposed by everyone in the ranks below, at, and above his pay grade level...save those few who like Rhodes Scholars, megalomaniacs, and politically-connected machiavellan ministers.
In his zest to lead NATO headfirst into war against Serbia over Kosovo 4 years ago, Clark fully ignored the UN, refused to consider UN inspectors to verify the claims of "mass graves" and "genocide," as well as bombed civilian TV stations/studios while they were on the air (and he also bombed civilian bridges while human shields were visibly present on them). But besides ordering attacks on civilian targets, Clark also insured that foreign diplomatic targets, such as the Chinese Embassy, were also hit. If it could make America look bad, Clark pretty well ordered it.
"I'll not start the Third World War for you," said British General Mike Jackson as he DISOBEYED Clark's direct order to open fire on Russian paratroopers who had just landed at the Pristina airport in Serbia in 1999.
Clark was then fired from NATO as well as fired from the U.S. military. He returned to Arkansas where he received jobs from friends of Bill Clinton. Staffers on Clark's campaign almost all have experience campaigning and fund-raising for former President Clinton, and this is why people like Eli Broad can say that they just "know" that the Clinton's favor Clark even though there has been no announcement by the Clinton's regarding who they favor/endorse.
Which means that Hillary is still considering Clark, among others, to be the annointed one to select her as the Democratic Party VP candidate in 2004...
Am I correct in my thinking that if Hellary teams up with Clark they can combine the funds they raise??
If so .. Clark is nothing but a front man for Hellary
On the face of it, that is a true statement -- which just proves how far out of the mainstream Democratic thinking is on those issues:
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
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