Reply #12: MSM: Kerry sitting on $14m '08 warchest; since 1/05 has given only $15k

[ProgressiveEconomist]

to DSCC.

From http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/21/kerry_is_pressured_to_share_campaign_wealth :

"Kerry is pressured to share campaign wealth; Well-funded Democrats get last-minute appeals

By Rick Klein and Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | October 21, 2006

WASHINGTON -- As he campaigns extensively on behalf of House and Senate candidates, Senator John F. Kerry is under increasing pressure from Democratic Party leaders and activists to tap his $14 million campaign account and spread the money around to help the party's efforts. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, has given less than $15,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since the beginning of 2005. Though he has helped candidates in a variety of other ways, his last major financial contribution to the DSCC came a month after he lost the 2004 presidential election, when he used $1 million in leftover campaign funds to help the committee retire its debt.

Several members of the Massachusetts House delegation, meanwhile, have contributed minimally to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, even though none of them face serious reelection challenges. Representative Stephen F. Lynch, Democrat of South Boston, is $100,000 short of his obligations, and Representative Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat, has barely exceeded the $125,000 amount the party asked him to pay, even though his campaign account has a balance of nearly $5 million.

With less than three weeks to Election Day, control of Congress in sight, and a last-minute scramble to negate the Republicans' double-digit fund-raising advantage, some Democrats want Kerry and other prominent, well-funded officials to share the wealth for the good of the party. But Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat who has already paid more than the required $300,000 in "dues" to the DCCC, said other members of the House delegation may be holding their cash so they can run to replace Kerry if the senator vacates his seat in 2008.

"I wish other members of the delegation would give more," Frank said. "I know people are holding back for the Senate race that might happen, but I think this is more important." Anger at Kerry has bubbled over in the liberal blogosphere. A website, heyjohn.org, was created to pressure Kerry to give more to Democratic candidates. (The site was purportedly set up by a Democratic activist, but its origin is impossible to verify because it was registered through a service that protects the identity of those who establish sites.)"