Women's PAC forms campaign 'savings account'

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A new women's group raising money for the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee wants to take an unusual step to boost its fund raising: asking donors to give to a "savings account" for the nominee-to-be months before that person is picked.

The Women Engaged in Leadership, Education and Action in Democracy (WE LEAD) political action committee's plan is a new twist on a fund-raising technique known as bundling.

Typically, contributions from multiple donors are gathered for a named candidate and given to the candidate in a bundle. In some cases, parties or others may form a special political committee to raise money for a particular general-election contest, and the committee is then merged into the campaign of the candidate who wins the primary.

WE LEAD wants donors to write checks to it earmarked "presumptive nominee." It would hold onto the money, and when it becomes clear which of the nine declared Democratic presidential hopefuls has won enough primaries to become the party's nominee, the group would write a check to that campaign for the total amount accumulated.

"It's one thing for people to make a pledge, but in order to know that you have that money, and for them to have it available, you have to get it out of their hands," said Patricia Brennan-Gac, one of the group's founders. "That's where we came up with having a fund that's like a savings account for the presidential nominee."

The group has asked the Federal Election Commission to advise it whether the plan is legal.

If the FEC gives the go-ahead, the group could hand over an unlimited total to the Democratic nominee -- rather than being capped at the $5,000-per-candidate limit it faces when donating its own money. Each individual contributor earmarking a check "presumptive nominee" could give up to $2,000.

WE LEAD hopes to raise $100,000. The plan would let the group start raising money for the eventual nominee immediately, rather than waiting until a winner emerges from next year's primaries.

The commission is expected to rule on the request within the next few months.

Former FEC attorney Brad Litchfield said WE LEAD's plan is different from any type of bundling he's seen. Usually, the donor knows when he or she writes the check who is going to get the money, but in this case, the political action committee would judge who qualifies as the presumptive nominee, Mr. Litchfield said.

"That sounds a lot like the PAC's] contribution, since WE LEAD is deciding who that person is going to be, and the original donor isn't deciding that," Mr. Litchfield said.

Kent Cooper, co-founder of Political Money Line, an Internet service that tracks campaign finance, said it was smart of the group to ask the commission for guidance.

"Anytime you're going into some new variations of fund raising, it's probably wise to get a commission advisory opinion," said Mr. Cooper, a former FEC official.

WE LEAD's effort comes as the Democratic National Committee tries to raise $18 million to give the presumptive nominee after next year's primaries. The goal is to tide the nominee-to-be over next spring and summer when President Bush -- who has no rival for the Republican nomination -- likely will have millions left to spend.

Mr. Bush and the Democratic nominee will each be entitled to about $74 million in full government financing for their general election campaigns, and can each get a check for that amount when their respective parties hold their nominating conventions. Democrats plan their convention in late July.

If there's still no presumptive Democratic nominee the week before the Democratic nominating convention next July, WE LEAD plans to donate the earmarked money to the DNC.