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Wednesday, August 09, 2006
The Facts: Bill Richardson Campaign Did NOT Donate to Lieberman Campaign
On Monday, Matt Stoller at MyDD claimed that Governor Bill Richardson's now defunct PAC, Moving America Forward, made a recent donation to Joe Lieberman's campaign. Apparently, Stoller didn't have time to check his facts before making the statement. After communicating with the campaign today, it's clear that Matt's statement was incorrect and he has since made a brief correction to his post.
In more detail, the facts are these. The entity that made the donation looks to be Move America Forward, which is a Republican PAC with a name very similar to Richardson's PAC. Richardson's Moving America Forward PAC was closed down completely in April of 2005. In addition, since Richardson's organization was a state rather than federal PAC, it was prohibited by law from donating to federal campaigns like Lieberman's. It only operated in five states with a goal of registering Hispanic and Native American voters. It succeeded, registering more than 150,000 new voters in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Florida and Nevada.
Because Richardson's gubernatorial campaign also is a state level fund, it cant donate to any Senate candidate, either. Both cash and in-kind contributions are prohibited by legal restrictions. So, clearly, there is no way the contribution from something called "Move America Forward" came from the Richardson gubernatorial campaign or his disbanded PAC with a similar name.
It's anticipated that Governor Richardson will make a statement soon about the results of the Lieberman-Lamont primary. It's rumored that brainstorming is going on to determine some way Richardson can show his support for Lamont while following the campaign finance laws that prohibit direct contributions from his state office campaign.
It's certainly a very positive sign to see so many Dem officials and officeholders coming out in support of Lamont as the legitimate Dem in the race, and suggesting that Lieberman withdraw from what is increasingly being seen as a selfish and destructive run as an "independent." Come on, Joe, do the Democrats a favor. Drop out now.
August 9, 2006 at 03:26 PM in Candidates & Races | Permalink
Comments
While his campaign account can't give $$ to Lamont, Bill Richardson the individual can. I think that Gov. Richardson should show soildarity with the Democratic Party by making a $2,100 (max allowed by law) personal contribution to Lamont.
I also encourage Bingaman to make a donation from his campaign account. I'll give Madrid a pass since she needs every last cent taking on Heather Wilson.
Posted by: What Richardson Can Do | Aug 9, 2006 3:45:12 PM
Great idea! But the best support would be to help "convince" Lieberman to withdraw from the race NOW. We don't need to be wasting money in CT that is needed in the many tight races we have. If Lieberman leaves the race, Lamont has smooth sailing.
Posted by: Red or Green | Aug 9, 2006 3:47:52 PM
Lieberman doesn't care what Bill Richardson or Jeff Bingaman think. He's already going to run indy, let's show solidarity with Lamont.
Richardson, Bingaman, toss Lamont some dough. God knows you have enough of it and your opponents are jokes.
Posted by: Lieberman Doesn't Care | Aug 9, 2006 5:05:34 PM
I think it would be a good idea to wait a few days and see what the leadership has in mind for Joe, they might convince him that acting like an a** and running as an independant ain't such a good idea.
Posted by: VP | Aug 9, 2006 5:21:21 PM
Let's hope that when the immediate sting of losing the primary is gone, Lieberman will come to his senses and not run as an independent.
If, in two weeks, he is still planning on running I'll lose even more respect for the man. Something I thought couldn't happen.
Posted by: LP | Aug 9, 2006 5:28:36 PM
Lp, I agree, but with the report that SoreLoserman got a call from kkkarl offering campaign help, well lets just say I now have 0 respect for Joe. Sort of confirms what everyone has known.
Posted by: VP | Aug 10, 2006 7:01:53 AM
Lieberman should be stripped of his committee assignments. He's not a Democrat anymore.
Posted by: Old Dem | Aug 10, 2006 1:01:25 PM
Screw sending money to those campaigns! Urge Ricahardson to spend money on winning this state and giving to OUR LOCAL candidates! Afterall, it is hard enough knocking on doors asking for support when every big check has already gone to Richardson. We need to win here before we can win every where else!
Posted by: Westside Voter | Aug 11, 2006 9:37:17 AM
The best thing we can all do is to send a few bucks to the campaigns for congerss everywhere that have a chance to win so we can take back the house and senate. If everyone who read this sent ten bucks to ten candidates who need it, including Madrid's, we'd be getting somewhere.
It does suck that Richardson and Bingaman both are collecting huge sums when neither of them have any chance of losing. Spread it around!
Posted by: JLC | Aug 11, 2006 10:52:45 AM
