Lieberman lagging behind in campaign contributions

By Bill Yelenak

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) has raised more than $3 million for his presidential campaign during the first quarter of 2003, placing him far behind two other Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Lieberman trails U.S. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.) in contributions collected during the early months of campaigning. Edwards leads all candidates with $7.4 million and Kerry comes in a close second with about $7 million.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is just behind Lieberman, with more than $2.6 million.

Many of the candidates who have said they intend to run for the Democratic nomination for president, including former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.), Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and the Rev. Al Sharpton, had not released their first-quarter earnings as of Thursday afternoon. Candidates have until April 15 to file their quarterly reports with the Federal Election Commission.

According to a Wednesday press release, Lieberman's fundraising has come on strong of late, with $2.1 million of the senator's total raised in March. The campaign raised $300,000 in January and $600,000 in February.

Lieberman spokesman Jano Cabrera attributed the large increase to the hiring of Sherry Yost as campaign finance director.

"I think it's pretty clear that once we had our finance operation clearly in place, and with the hiring of our finance director at the end of late February, we really hit our stride," Cabrera said Thursday. "Already in the first week of April, we've raised more than we did in the entire month of January."

Others on the Lieberman campaign staff similarly expressed pleasure that contributions were coming in at a much quicker rate.

"I'm tremendously proud of our growing strength," Lieberman campaign manager Craig Smith said Wednesday in a press release. "Combined with the strong political endorsements we gained in key states like New Hampshire, New York, Arizona and Oklahoma, we have built a solid foundation for our future success."

Cabrera shrugged off the large fundraising gap between Lieberman and the two contribution leaders.

"We're just focused on reaching out to our own supporters, talking to them about the message that Sen. Joe Lieberman wants to spread," Cabrera said. "We'll leave the punditry to the pundits."

Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.

Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.