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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (476361)	10/15/2003 5:16:37 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Dean Smashes Democratic Fund - Raising Records By REUTERS Filed at 5:00 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean smashed the party's record for fund-raising in a single three-month period, raising $14.8 million for his 2004 bid. The nine Democratic White House contenders were to file their quarterly financial reports with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday, with Dean easily leading the Democratic field and besting President Bill Clinton's record of $10.3 million raised in the third quarter of 1995. But Dean and all of the other Democrats were eclipsed by President Bush, who reported on Tuesday he had broken his own single-quarter records for either party by raising $49.5 million in July, August and September. Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi said the former Vermont governor would have about $12 million in the bank as the campaign heads into the final three months before the first crucial nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire in January. That amount is likely to give him the lead in cash on hand among the Democratic contenders, a crucial indicator for candidates as they increase their television advertising and try to expand their staffs in key states other then Iowa and New Hampshire. Missouri Rep. Richard Gephardt reported raising $3.8 million in July, August and September, about what he raised in the second quarter. Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who formally launched his long-shot bid earlier this week but has been campaigning all year, raised $1.65 million, a slight increase from the second quarter. Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who entered the race less than a month ago, reported last week that he raised $3.5 million by the Oct. 1 deadline, when he had been in the race two weeks. Trippi said 168,533 individual donors gave an average of $73.69 to Dean in the last three months, with $7.4 million of the total coming in through the Internet. INTERNET BOOSTS SUPPORT Dean's Internet savvy campaign has used the Web as a tool to boost his grass roots support, which has grown on the strength of his outspoken criticism of the Iraq war and of party leaders who failed to oppose the invasion. In a statement, Dean said his supporters ``feel betrayed by a Democratic Party establishment that rolled over and provided no opposition, no debate, to a mistaken war and continued attacks on our civil liberties.'' Of the 232,248 donors who have given to the campaign during the course of the last year, only 1,747 have given the maximum $2,000 contribution, which was increased from $1,000 by a campaign finance law change last year. But Trippi said there was no decision on whether the strong fund-raising totals would lead Dean to opt out of the federal public financing system and the spending caps that go with it. Spending for the primaries, which includes the entire period up until the nominating convention in late July, is capped at $45 million for those who accept matching funds. By opting out, as Bush has already done, Dean could continue to raise and spend money through the spring and summer. Dean, who at one time promised to abide by the caps, and Kerry have promised to decide by the end of the year whether they will take public financing. ``That's still an issue we very much want to explore but have not made a decision on,'' Trippi said.