Which Democratic Senators helped fund the Blue Wave?
In the weeks before the 2006 election, a bunch of lefty bloggers launched a campaign to encourage safe-seat House and Senate Democrats to give away money to targeted races.
Over at DailyKos, Markos takes note of recent FEC reports that indicate which US Senators stepped up to the plate.
The biggest transferror to the DSCC, by about a 900K margin? Sen. Clinton, who transferred $2.1M. Sen. Kennedy came second with $1.25M.To round out the numbers for the presidentials, Obama gave a paltry $150K, Biden $200K, Dodd $200K, and Kucinich a big fat $0. [Update]: My bad -- I missed that Kucinich gave $125K.
Also stepping up big in the Senate where Feinstein ($1 mil), Wyden ($770K), Durbin ($985K), Carper ($500K), and Reid ($600K). Feinstein, Wyden, and Carper most impressive since they're not in the leadership.
Discuss.
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March 13, 2007
Posted in elsewhere. |
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Mar 13, '07
To be fair, we probably have to compare the ratio of amount give to the amount they had available. Not everyone's "war chest" was as full.... Clinton we know had raised huge sums, and had almost no competition.
10:37 a.m.
Mar 13, '07
Not true to say Wyden's not in leadership; in this case he is, since he's DSCC Vice-Chair for the Western Region. Nonetheless, good to see Wyden get his props.
10:43 a.m.
Mar 13, '07
Yeah, you're right, and yet not right. DSCC is a campaign position, not an official Senate leadership role. But yeah, that's a distinction without a difference.
11:16 a.m.
Mar 13, '07
Don't get hung up on specific amounts. look at percentage of cash-on-hand vs. amount donated to the DSCC. Clinton's ratio is not that good compared to others.
Just saying.
11:21 a.m.
Mar 13, '07
Well, clearly Kos meant leadership of the full Senate. My point is that as a Vice-Chair, he likely felt responsible for walking the talk and supporting candidates via the DSCC, so it's not quite as surprising that he'd be a big donor.
Mar 13, '07
Ron Wyden has given more support to our local candidates and the local Democratic campaign efforts over the past four years than any other elected official. He has also been incredibly supportive of our local party, heck his staff even came over and helped us paint when we opened up our new DPLC office last year. Sen. Wyden doesn't seek or get a lot of recognition for his support of local Oregon Democrats so I am glad to see that Kos posted this info.
Val Chair Democratic Party of Lane County
Mar 13, '07
Chuck Schumer must have gave out a lot of dough, too.
Mar 13, '07
Can someone please tell me why this should not be read as a celebration of influence peddling?
3:49 p.m.
Mar 13, '07
Lin, a lot of us out here believe that publicly funded campaigns are the only way to get rid of systemic corruption and influence.
We are not willing, however, to cede control of the entire nation to the corporatists and then hope that a miracle occurs.
Mar 13, '07
No, Mr. Ryan, by influence peddling I mean it pretty obviously feels like presidential candidates trading $$ for endorsements. (Well, not Ted Kennedy, but the rest.) A less polite way to describe this would be political prostitution. That seems to be entirely separate from the issue of "corporatist" election funding. From this perspective, which you may of course think it bogus, I was wondering why Obama's contribution was characterized as "paltry"...and whether Kucinich's zero contribution is an indication of impoverishment or principle. I also wonder how Democratic dollars-for-endorsements differ from Republican dollars-for-endorsements.
4:58 p.m.
Mar 13, '07
Posted by: lin qiao | Mar 13, 2007 4:47:05 PM
Ron Wyden is running for President?
Mar 13, '07
Sure seems that way.
5:57 p.m.
Mar 13, '07
Posted by: frank carper | Mar 13, 2007 5:01:32 PM
Ahhhhhh... that portends a Presidential run?
ROFL
11:31 a.m.
Mar 14, '07
Painting this as dollars for endorsements requires a huge leap, particularly given the fact that several of the largest donors aren't running.
Mar 14, '07
I'm not sure how much influence Ron Wyden's staff members pedaled by helping paint our new Lane County Party office on their day off but we did let them have some of our pizza.
We also won an incredibly difficult Oregon Senate seat, flipped two House seats to good solid Democratic Representatives and held on to all of our other Democratic incumbents. Sen. Ron Wyden was there to help in every single one of those efforts. He wasn't running for office, he didn't have to help but he did because he cares about Oregon and because he understands the importance of building a strong home team. Can't say it will help him if he runs for President because we aren't a state that counts in the primary but he sure did earn the respect and appreciation of a number of people here. I know that he worked equally hard in other Counties and as far as I am concerned that is what leaders in our Party are supposed to do, they should lead. Sen. Ron Wyden is truly a leader in supporting the Democratic Party from the local to the National level.
Val
Mar 14, '07
Anyone know anything about the peace protest in Portland Sunday? I'm interested in details. Time? Place?
Please email me. [email protected]
Thanks!
10:11 p.m.
Mar 14, '07
Here you go: Iraqi war protest info.
Mar 15, '07
Val, the "support" you cite Wyden offered really is of little value when Ron is silent on what happened earlier this week. Where are you and Ron on speaking out publicly to demand that AIPAC denounce those who cheered when Cheney accused Democrats of being traitors for doing the American and moral thing to stop the war, and for booing Pelosi? From what I have heard Ron is mum, and you're no Democrat, and you damage the DPO immeasurably, if you don't speak out and demand Ron speak out in this way.
Mar 15, '07
The subject of the story was about Democrats currently in office who helped support the national Democratic victories in '06, I responded to that subject and said that Sen. Wyden helped at the local as well as the national level. I would respond to your question about my views or my feelings about Ron Wyden's views re: AIPAC or anything else for that matter if there was an actual question and not a thinly veiled personal attack in the form of a question. Clearly you have issues that prevent you from communicating in a respectful way and I just hope that anonymously posting angry attacks on blogs helps you feel better. It sure doesn't affect my day one way or the other.
Val
Mar 18, '07
What? Ron Wyden didn't denounce people even though they expressed their political opinions loudly and peacefully?
I'm so glad "WhereIsWyden" pointed this out, so I can mark it down as a point in Wyden's favor.
Mar 18, '07
No... wait ... Wyden refused to strong-arm somebody ELSE into denouncing people for expressing political opinions.
<h2>Boy, he's looking better every time I reread that "WhereIsWyden" screed.</h2>