Kerry to Give Dems Leftover Campaign Cash

WASHINGTON - Under friendly fire, Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) likely will donate a substantial portion of his excess presidential campaign cash to help elect Democratic candidates in 2005 and 2006, advisers said Thursday.

Party leaders, including some of Kerry's top campaign aides, said this week they were surprised and angry to learn that he had more than $15 million in accounts from the Democratic primaries. They demanded to know why the money wasn't spent to help Kerry defeat President Bush (news - web sites) or to aid congressional candidates.

There were no easy answers to those questions, officials close to Kerry acknowledged Thursday, but they sought to assure Democrats in a series of telephone calls that the four-term Massachusetts senator was sharing his political wealth.
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One member of Kerry's inner circle of campaign aides said Thursday that the failure to spend the money cost the senator victory in a close election.
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"They're doing this now because they're being forced to, not because they want to," said Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, the most vocal critic of Kerry's spending. "They still don't have a defense for why they hung on to the money."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=694&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20041118/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_kerry

of running in 2008. I'm very disappointed in him.

He has plans to return to the senate (at least for the time being).

but that was word on the street... anyone else hear this?

And he offers no plausible reason why. Sheesh!

We were "sharing" a staffer with a distant county until then. Then when they sent us one, he was an ass.

I was hoping this was set aside for a legal challenge.

$15 Billiion won't help the Democrats next time. The fix is in, the judges will be even more stacked against any challenges, the CIA will be Shrub's political police and we'll all be plowing the fields.

Not to put too fine a point on it.

This 15 million is from the primaries (when Kerry generously paid himself back the loan he took out on his house) That's why Brazille's so wigged- she believes a number of lost races could have swung on another million or 500,000 but he sat on it.

The "recount" money is still idle as far as I've heard. There were requests for donations up to the end but I don't believe it's been used.

Armageddon is coming, and he's gonna make damn sure of it if he gets inaugurated again.

campaign. You think he shouldn't have been paid back the money ? I don't think it would have been legal for him to make a 6 million dollar gift to the campaign.

You will be. My gay friend and I will likely be pushing up the daisies in mass graves!

and recounts in mid-October. I'm so glad I didn't give them a dime, because they lied; so I was able to support Bev, Alliance, and Cobb instead - who are actually working for our side.

DNC spokesman Jano Cabrera said that was the largest contribution the DNC has ever received, and the first from a presidential primary campaign.


"With this donation, the campaign more than fulfilled its commitment to our general election plan," he said.


I believe the above says a lot of the integrity of his campaign. No one before has done better. Perhaps the money should have been spent, but it wasn't. I really don't think Kerry himself had bad intentions. He's still my choice.

to raise money for the DNC?

if they had all the money they needed,and still lost senate and rep seats across the country (giving them redistricting in Texas)and don't feel an extra mill or two would've made a diffence in NC or OK or elsewhere, then their general election plan sucked.

all the more reason to clean house at the DNC.

and Kerry's my choice too. i just wish he and the party chose to fight for the right to vote.

not to rain on anyone's parade, but i still don't believe there will a december surprise. there are absolutely no indications whatsoever anywhere, not a hint, a whisper, even a rumor that the Dems are preparing for the remotest possibility that they will be doing anything but kissing karl roves butt come january.

as i've said in earlier posts, this is now about the right to have your vote collected and counted. roll over and play dead on this one, and you've coughed up the whole enchilada. try and convince people to come out in 2006, when you spit the bit on enfranchisement in 2004.

pathetic.

whalerider55.
still a tad peeved

"They're doing this now because they're being forced to, not because they want to," said Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, the most vocal critic of Kerry's spending. "They still don't have a defense for why they hung on to the money."

Interesting how Donna suddenly gets forcefully when its time to criticize a Dem.

she could always be counted on for an anti-Kerry quote, and writers like Ron Fournier, who wrote the original AP story on this, are quick to turn to Brazile and some of the other nasty ex-Gore operatives (do a search on the Daily Howler for Fournier stories critical of Kerry and other Dems). She has undercut Kerry every time she's had the chance. And lazy journalists like Fournier and Wilgoren and the rest of that claptrap know who they can turn to when they want to try to stir up some phony controversy.

wagging mouth out to start trouble within the Democratic party. Karl Rove's best friend is just another repub operative in blackface.

As campaign manager for the 2000 election, she probably undermined Gore's Campaign for her buddy Rove (Did she FIND the * debate practice video tape?)

And where was she from August til the election in November, under Rove's bed?

she just doesn't stop criticizing democrats. Great leadership we have ... :eyes:

These are interesting news reports but the most interesting is lying in wait around the corner for us, all this may be part of a plan to divert over attentions off the real news, having our votes counted to which end that money may still help resolve.

that we are trying to find so many excuses why Kerry did not win the election. I see so many factors that point to Republican corruption as to the reason Kerry did not win. The fact that the money was donated back to the DNC is something we should be thankful for nor matter the conjectures of why it was not spent. The Republicans and the Bush administration are the most corrupt of our day and I would rather this fact be focused on instead of downgrading Kerry for supposedly not getting enough votes. Remember he only lost by 136,000 votes which tells me what money was spent was well spent.

Moreover, I believe that ultimately he lost because the election was stolen. I didn't think so on Nov. 3, but the more I read, the more likely it seems.

assetive. Not using $15 million in the "most important election in our lifetimes?" What a blow job this is? I'm glad I didn't give a cent to his campaign.

Kerry won. The election was stolen. Kerry won. The election was stolen....

doesn't really matter if the election were stolen.

the dnc had four years to prepare for this after 2000 in florida, and doesn't seem to have done much to prevent this. 2002 we had practice thefts in georgia and florida, just to tighten up the technique.

wtf- do they need an engraved invitation to figure it out?

the internet has been on this for four frickin' years.

sheesh.

whalerider55

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<<She looks like she eats a lot of it too.>>
Nice to know that my fellow Dems are so thoughtful.
:thumbsdown:

Hey John, wanna share a room in *my* doghouse?

... I feel vindicated.

I don't know that I could ever trust another presidential candidate again.

If it is not going to be used for recounts than at least it should be used to try and elect Democrats. I wish it could have been used sooner though.

n/t

they had 45 mill stashed for those expenses.

this was kerry's walkin' round money.

whalerider55

What a ripoff!

I am proud to have voted for Kerry and it makes me sick to see people in the party turn on him so quickly. Donna Brazile is turning out to be another Zell Miller. I contributed to the Kerry campaign, and as far as I am concerned, Kerry can keep my money because he earned it! I really hope he decides to run again in 2008--this country needs him as president! Oh, before I forget, please sign this petition on Ralph Nader's site to impeach Bush. Thank you!

http://www.votenader.org/get_involved/impeach_view.php

did he hang on to the money?? I was still being solicited for funds by snail mail and e-mail right up to the last day yet there he sat on all that money. :argh: