Funds tough to figure for Rezko aid
Calculations of Obama cash vary
By Bob Secter and David Jackson. Tribune reporters Ray Gibson and Stacy St. Clair contributed to this report | TRIBUNE REPORTERS
January 31, 2008As Barack Obama is finding out, it's not as easy to dump politically toxic campaign donations as it might seem. For the third time in more than a year, Obama's presidential campaign announced this week it was shedding more donations tied to indicted fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Calculations by the media and Obama's own staff of Rezko's financial impact on his past political campaigns have been all over the map and shifting. The reason: The numbers depend on assumptions made about why a donor gave in the first place.
In total, Obama has promised to give to charity more than $150,000 he collected through Rezko. His campaign said the latest installment of $72,650 was raised for his 2004 U.S. Senate race at an elegant dinner at Rezko's 8,500-square-foot Wilmette mansion. It remains unclear whether Obama's campaign has dragged out the process of shedding Rezko money because it was having a difficult time determining the nature of those donations, or if the campaign was reluctant to look hard for them.
Connecting the dots between a political fundraiser and any specific donation, though, is not always simple. Experts say it is more art than science, and precision can be elusive. Obama's campaign still has not offered a clear explanation of how it determines Rezko-linked donations or why he has dealt with them piecemeal, apparently in reaction to bad publicity.
More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-rezkojan31,1,1045253.story?ctrack=2&cset=true