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Democrats Question Kerry's Campaign Funds
Yahoo ^ | 11/18/2004 | Ron Fournier

Posted on 11/18/2004 5:04:46 AM PST by Hawk44

WASHINGTON - Democratic Party leaders said Wednesday they want to know why Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) ended his presidential campaign with more than $15 million in the bank, money that could have helped Democratic candidates across the country.

Some said he will be pressured to give the money to Democratic campaign committees rather than save it for a potential White House bid in 2008.

"Democrats are questioning why he sat on so much money that could have helped him defeat George Bush (news - web sites) or helped down-ballot races, many of which could have gone our way with a few more million dollars," said Donna Brazile, campaign manager for Al Gore (news - web sites)'s 2000 presidential race.

Brazile is a member of the 400-plus member Democratic National Committee (news - web sites), which meets early next year to pick a new party chairman. One high-ranking member of the DNC, speaking on condition of anonymity, said word of Kerry's nest egg has stirred anger on the committee and could hurt his chances of putting an ally in the chairmanship.

Congressional Democrats and labor leaders also privately questioned Kerry's motives. One said he would personally ask the Massachusetts senator to donate some of the money to the Democratic House and Senate campaign committees.

Democrats lost seats in both the House and Senate on Nov. 2, setbacks compounded by the multimillion-dollar debts they incurred in the process.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee borrowed $10 million in the final days of a campaign in which it spent heavily in Texas, where four veteran lawmakers wound up losing their seats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee borrowed a smaller amount, more than $3 million according to officials. Even so, Democrats lost four Senate seats, and will have 44 seats when the new Congress convenes, fewer than at any time since 1930.

Three former Kerry campaign aides, also demanding anonymity out of concerns about alienating their former boss, said they were surprised and disappointed to learn that he left so much money in the bank.

Kerry had roughly $45 million left in his primary campaign fund as of mid-October, according to his Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) report, and could use that as seed money for another presidential bid.

His final report is not due until next month, but officials close to Kerry said he has $15 million to $17 million in that account, with no outstanding debts, after giving the DNC about $23 million and state parties about $9 million since the mid-October report.

In addition, the report showed that Kerry had about $7 million on hand in a legal and accounting compliance fund that he could use for legal expenses in a 2008 campaign. Officials said he raised several million more for that account since the filing.

Last summer, Kerry donated $3 million each to the House and Senate campaign committees and $2 million to the Democratic Governors Association.

While Kerry has likely given more money to state committees than any other nominee, no other Democrat has raised as much as he did. And second-guessing Democrats said Wednesday they couldn't recall a candidate leaving so much money on the table after a campaign.

"He's going to have to give some of it up for 2005 and beyond," Brazile said. "The party will demand it."


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
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He came into a billion with Teresa (literally). Isn't that enough? You aren't going to run again you liberal loser.
1 posted on 11/18/2004 5:04:46 AM PST by Hawk44
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To: Hawk44

Boy will it get nasty if he runs against Hitlery in 2008! All those redacted FBI files will appear without the redactions!


2 posted on 11/18/2004 5:07:18 AM PST by stockpirate (Not we must take our mandate and do the deed.)
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To: Hawk44

Perhaps Kerry's executive abilities are somewhat wanting.


3 posted on 11/18/2004 5:09:35 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (The fourth estate is a fifth column.)
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To: Hawk44

This latest squabble over Kerry's leftover campaign cash is so typical of Democrats -- they are always fighting to get their hands on other peoples' money.


4 posted on 11/18/2004 5:10:07 AM PST by Always A Marine
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To: Hawk44

I just love it when they eat their own.


5 posted on 11/18/2004 5:10:09 AM PST by dc-zoo
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To: Hawk44
My guess - he was sitting on it expecting a big legal fiasco on November 3rd. Bush ended nicely ahead and Kerry conceded.
6 posted on 11/18/2004 5:10:22 AM PST by LisaS
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To: Hawk44

Is it possible the Democrats are finally seeing the light, concerning Kerry? To answer my own question - Nah.


7 posted on 11/18/2004 5:11:12 AM PST by Old Grumpy
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To: Old Grumpy

Is it possible to have so many keywords?


8 posted on 11/18/2004 5:11:47 AM PST by alessandrofiaschi
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To: ClearCase_guy

My friend, John Kerry's executive abilities are not wanting. He has none, and never did.


9 posted on 11/18/2004 5:11:50 AM PST by JLAGRAYFOX
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To: Hawk44

Yesterday it was reported Kerry had $45 million left over. Today it is $15 millon. That's a lot of money to lose overnight.


10 posted on 11/18/2004 5:12:27 AM PST by chainsaw ( ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." - H. Clinton))
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To: chainsaw

Teresa wants her money back! LMAO! This is going to be fun, seeing the libs kill each other.


11 posted on 11/18/2004 5:15:01 AM PST by Jose Roberto
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To: LisaS
.....he was sitting on it expecting a big legal fiasco on November 3rd.....

Does this mean the 10,000 lawyers the Dims had ready to deploy won't get paid (/sarc)?

12 posted on 11/18/2004 5:16:12 AM PST by Liz (The man who establishes the reputation of rising at dawn, can sleep til noon.)
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To: Hawk44

"Democratic Party leaders said Wednesday they want to know why Sen. John Kerry ended his presidential campaign with more than $15 million in the bank, money that could have helped Democratic candidates across the country."

Kerry response: But how would that have helped me?


13 posted on 11/18/2004 5:17:07 AM PST by Common Sense 101
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To: alessandrofiaschi

All those keywords and only.....what?.....12 posts.


14 posted on 11/18/2004 5:18:06 AM PST by Liz (The man who establishes the reputation of rising at dawn, can sleep til noon.)
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To: Hawk44

The money might have made a difference in several races.


15 posted on 11/18/2004 5:26:36 AM PST by Dante3
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To: Hawk44

Judging from reports that the Kerry campaign was totally chaotic, I'm not surprised that there was no one keeping an eye on what was spent.


16 posted on 11/18/2004 5:34:05 AM PST by randita
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To: LisaS
My guess - he was sitting on it expecting a big legal fiasco on November 3rd. Bush ended nicely ahead and Kerry conceded.

That's quite possible, because so many of the pundits were predicting another long, drawn-out legal slugfest. But it sure makes him shark bait for fellow Dems now.:)

17 posted on 11/18/2004 5:36:46 AM PST by xJones
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To: chainsaw

i think that the 45 million was by a mid october review some of which had been distributed or used to pay off debts
i think that the actual surplus is 15 million if i am reading these things correctly


18 posted on 11/18/2004 5:39:42 AM PST by DM1
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To: Hawk44; Admin Moderator
Already posted here last night

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1282668/posts

19 posted on 11/18/2004 5:47:26 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Hawk44

Maybe he could use it to pay for all the psychological counseling for PEST that the Dems need!! LOLOLOL!!

It is his fault after all!


20 posted on 11/18/2004 6:08:17 AM PST by SpinyNorman (When are the liberals leaving the U.S. did you say?)
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