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Kerry Has $14 Million to Battle Hillary
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has nearly $14 million left over from his 2004 presidential bid and can use it in a fight with Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president. Kerry has $8.2 million in his John Kerry for President account and $5.4 million in his Kerry-Edwards 2004 Inc. General Election Legal and Accounting Compliance Fund, Alexander Bolton reports in the influential Washington publication The Hill. "His 2004 nest egg has given Kerry the luxury of focusing his efforts on raising money for Democratic candidates rather than worrying about money for his own 2008 Senate reelection race or about courting donors for another presidential run,” Bolton writes. "But using 2004 funds in a Democratic primary is certain to spark criticism from Democrats still angry that Kerry didn’t spend all of his available resources to defeat Bush.”
Story Continues Below Clinton has raised $44 million for her Senate reelection race and has $22 million in her Senate campaign’s bank account, which will most likely give her a huge lead over other presidential candidates heading into the 2008 presidential primaries. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana is also in a strong financial position if he vies for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. He has $10.4 million in his personal campaign account, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. Bayh doesn’t face reelection until 2010 and could use all his money in a run for the White House. Kerry has focused his efforts on helping other Democratic candidates during this election cycle. Since his 2004 loss to George Bush, he has raised $13.5 million through his leadership committees and given nearly $10 million to Democratic candidates in 40 states. "John Kerry has been relentlessly active during these last couple of years raising money for other campaigns,” Steve Grossman, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and close adviser to the current chairman, Howard Dean, told The Hill. Michael Bauer, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, said Kerry’s unspent 2004 presidential war chest "is still an issue with so many Democrats around the country.
"I can’t tell you how often this comes up this long after the election.” Bauer said Kerry was raising money up until Election Day 2004, even though he would finish the race with nearly $14 million in unspent cash. "I think he was hedging his bets,” Bauer said. "I think he decided to hold on to a chunk of money so he would have a good strong head start on the 2008 election.”
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Sen. Hillary Clinton
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