Donors say Lieberman will be well-funded

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

WASHINGTON - Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut will be able to raise the funds necessary to mount a campaign to keep his Senate seat, both Democratic and Republican donors say.

Having lost last week’s Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, Lieberman is running as an independent against Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger.

Lamont, a Greenwich, Conn. businessman who self-financed about two-thirds of his campaign, ran against Lieberman’s support for the Iraq war, his refusal to use a filibuster to block a vote on Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito and a number of other issues.

Lieberman's decision to run as an independent is causing angst within the ranks of Democratic donors, some of whom were unwilling to talk on the record about his campaign because his candidacy has so divided Democrats.

The three-term Democrat will turn to donors to his previous Senate campaigns and his 2004 presidential bid. He’ll also get some money from Republican and independent donors, especially those who agree with Lieberman’s support of Israel and continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

At a moment when Israel is at war with Hezbollah, Lieberman's candidacy has become a rallying point for those who think it would be a singularly bad time to end the Senate career of such a staunch champion of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) said, “He can raise the money” to run a campaign. “There is a pro-Israel network of folks who are going to give to Lieberman because of his friendship to the Jewish community and because of who he is. Will he get all the money he’d have gotten as the Democratic nominee? Probably not, but I do think he can raise the money” to sustain a very credible campaign, Forman said.

Big donor base to draw on
In his presidential campaign in 2003-004, Lieberman got nearly 15,000 individual contributions; in his primary campaign this year he had received more than 5,700 individual contributions by July 19, according to the Federal Election Commission. (Lamont had gotten 1,100 individual contributions by July 19, according to the FEC.)

That’s a base from which Lieberman can start. If even a third of those donors write his campaign a $1,000 check, he’d have nearly $7 million, enough to mount a robust campaign. That figure does not include new Republican donations which will soon begin to flow in.

Contributions from political action committees (PACs) will be somewhat crimped. A number of corporate PACs, such as the National Beer Wholesalers' PAC, have already given Lieberman the maximum amount permitted, $5,000 for the primary, and $5,000 for the general election

Democrat Mitchell Berger, a Florida lawyer who has given money to the campaigns of Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John Kerry in the past and who was finance chairman for Lieberman’s 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he will donate money to Lieberman’s independent run and help raise money by talking to other donors.

“It would be tragic for the country to lose a man of his ability if he’s willing to serve,” said Berger.

Berger said many donors in Lieberman’s existing network will continue to back him because “usually that person has an independent relationship with Sen. Lieberman” that exists outside of their connection to the Democratic Party.

But he said Democrats are grateful for the work Lieberman has done in the past for the party. “He did a fundraiser for the Florida Democratic Party two years ago and raised a million dollars. People are going to remember him for things like that."

'He stood up to George Bush...'
Berger acknowledges that some Democrats have disagreements with Lieberman over Iraq. But, he added, “He stood up to George Bush to implement the reforms of the 9-11 Commission and to create the Department of Homeland Security. And he stood up to make sure we don’t have drilling off the coast of Florida. It is hard to walk away from that.”

Berger said Lieberman loyalists know he’s still a Democrat. “If Sen. Lieberman had said he’s not going to caucus with the Senate Democrats, that would be a problem, but he has said he will caucus with them,” Berger pointed out.

One Democrat who gave $1,000 to Lieberman's primary campaign, Washington attorney Heather Podesta, said Monday, when asked whether she'd chip in for his independent bid, "I'd rather not talk abut my political giving and what my plans are."

But quite willing to speak was Bruce Bialosky, a leading Republican donor in California, who said he will raise more than $10,000 for Lieberman.

On Tuesday night, once Lamont had defeated Lieberman, Bialosky sent an e-mail to the 2,000 people on his political list “expressing my despair over Lieberman’s loss in the primary” and making it clear he’d raise money for Lieberman’s independent bid. “I’ve never seen such a tremendous response” from his list, Bialosky said.

“This is not an issue of partisanship. This is a great American,” he said. “There are certain times when we have to cross party lines. Sen. Lieberman has clarity on the most important issue of our time. His opponent doesn’t have a clue.”

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