Posted on 12/16/2005 10:29:22 PM PST by mcg2000
Corker cites $300,000 in NYC, lauds own homegrown war chest
As the fund-raising in the Tennessee U.S. Senate campaign escalates, so does the rhetoric over who has raised how much and where.
The latest skirmish began with Republican candidate Bob Corker, who sent out a press release calling attention to the amount raised out of state by Memphis Democrat Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
In the first nine months of 2005, 42 percent of Ford's donations from individuals came from out of state, compared with 5 percent of Corker's, according to Political Money Line, a Washington watchdog group.
The other major candidates in the race, Republicans Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant and Democrat Rosalind Kurita, each has raised 12 percent or less from out-of-state individuals.
Corker's release noted that Ford raised $300,000 Monday at a Manhattan event attended by former president Bill Clinton and other luminaries.
Corker's campaign contrasted that with an event Corker hosted in Chattanooga that raised $200,000. Corker is the former mayor of Chattanooga.
"The percentage of money (Corker has raised) from out of state illustrates that our campaign is supported by Tennesseans," said Ben Mitchell, Corker's campaign manager. "Clearly, Ford needs to go out of state."
Ford "is proud of his broad base of national recognition and support," Ford campaign manager Jim Hester responded in an e-mail statement.
Hester also used the opportunity to attack Corker's support of a Republican plan to extend tax cuts on capital gains and dividends.
"Bob Corker is running a distant third in the Republican primary and is attacking Harold Ford Jr. to draw attention away from the fact that he supports tax breaks for himself and his millionaire friends," the statement continued.
Corker and Ford are far ahead of their rivals in contributions and both campaigns have attached a significant amount of prestige to being seen as a fund-raising leader. With the fourth quarter fund-raising reports due Jan. 15, Rhodes College political science professor Marcus Pohlmann said Corker's release may be designed to blunt any advantage Ford may show.
"They may fear that the juggernaut is growing," Pohlmann said.
While suggesting that Ford is out of step with Tennesseans can have its political benefits, Pohlmann said, his success out of state may also be an indication that his campaign has attracted the attention of Democrat power brokers who want to pick up the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Bill Frist.
"Tennessee is gradually being seen as a tossup state," Pohlmann said.
In the first nine months of 2005, Ford received $436,375 from individual donors outside of Tennessee, with the bulk of the donors in New York, Washington, Illinois and Florida. Counting money from political action committees and money carried over from his House campaign, Ford has collected about $3.3 million.
Corker has raised just $67,250 from individuals out of state, with most of those donors in Georgia, Virginia and Texas. So far he's collected a total of $3.87 million.
Hilleary, with $1.05 million, and Bryant, with $1.03 million, both have donors from across the South, as well as Washington and its suburbs. Kurita, who has raised $432,031, has a handful of donors in Texas, Florida and Colorado.
A sixth candidate, Republican Jeffrey Moder of Arlington, has raised a total of $5,050, with $2,000 coming from Alabama.
The Ford crime family?
They're supplying the money to keep him in the game.
Dems will push Ford Jr. for President in 2012 or thereafter.
That's the one. It helps to keep the family name in the media, and it certainly has done so in the past few days.
I would dearly love to see Ed Bryant in this seat.
What part of Tennessee are you in?
Memphis. Ed Bryant is the only Congressman to ever represent my views. He was also one of the House impeachment managers that managed to convict Clinton. If the Senate had only had the guts to apply a penalty...
I'm going to be moving out to DeSoto county soon.
Just because he doesn't rant and rave like jesse jackson doesn't mean he isn't as LIBERAL.
Ping.
We are expected to believe this does not affect their votes.
Excuse me while I crawl back onto the turnip truck.
This has to be stopped.
And this is after McCain and Feingold supposedly reformed campaign financing. . .
Oh, that.......I keep forgetting we got reform (/sarc).
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