Meehan Boosts Fundraising Efforts, Brushes off Blog Allegations
Demscash
The Eagle-Tribune
Bryan McGonigle
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 26, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26–Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Mass., says he is on a fundraising frenzy for his party, despite a liberal activist group’s asserting that he needs to loosen his pockets.
Meehan held a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with former President Bill Clinton at a home in Weston Wednesday, which he said collected more than $1million. But Meehan was a focus of a blog campaign last week by Moveon.org, which accused him of hoarding his money and not contributing enough to Democratic efforts to win control of Congress.
The group urged 70 House members with at least $200,000 in campaign money who do not face competitive races to donate 30 percent of their money to the campaign committee.
Meehan is running unopposed this election, and he has more money in his account than any other member of the House – about $4.9 million. He doesn’t take contributions from political action committees and relies on fundraisers and individual contributions for his campaign money.
He has paid his dues, set at $125,000, and, before his recent fundraiser, had raised about $250,000 for the committee this election cycle.
Dues for House Democrats this election cycle were set at $100,000 to $600,000, depending on whether the members hold leadership positions or senior committee assignments.
“The DCCC, thanks to my efforts and other Democratic members who have raised money for them, has raised more money than any other election in the history of the party,” Meehan said.
He added that the committee hasn’t bothered him about his contributions. Committee spokesman Bill Burton said he was unaware of any conflict between the committee and Meehan, adding that members are not the only ones asked to donate more money.
“We’re going to members, old-time donors, new-time donors, brothers, sisters, parents,” Burton said. “We’re asking anybody with a checkbook to help out.”
“The fact is that only one percent of the Democratic members of the House have given more than their dues, and most of them are part of the high-level leadership,” Meehan said. “So they’re [MoveOn.org] setting arbitrary standards that don’t make any sense.”
Meehan said that Moveon.org’s accusations were off-base and that his recent fundraisers were planned long before Moveon.org targeted him.
“Even if I had some more money to send, I couldn’t send it under these conditions, because people would think I was open to being bullied and pressured and it would look unethical,” Meehan said.
While members of Congress are not allowed to give more than $5,000 directly to congressional campaigns, they may transfer unlimited funds from their own campaign accounts to the congressional campaign committees. But Meehan said he doesn’t like giving money from his own campaign because it misleads those who contribute to him.
“I believe that it lacks transparency to be funneling money,” he said. “I think it’s wrong to funnel money that individuals contribute to my campaign with the specific intent to contribute to my campaign.”
Meehan said he would like to see the committee put more pressure on members to pay their dues.
“If every member paid their dues, the committee would have about $8 million” more than it has now, Meehan said.
Last March, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the campaign committee, asked 100 members of the House to pay their dues. About 40 percent of Democratic House members have not paid their dues in full, but that number is shrinking as members send in their payments, Burton said.
Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., has paid his $100,000 in dues, according to committee records.
Burton said that while the committee is getting more members’ dues and appreciates their fundraising efforts, more money is needed to combat what he calls the Republicans’ “nasty message machine,” which is well-financed.
“We’re at a crucial juncture, and an historic moment, and the more resources we have to capitalize on the national mood for change, the more likely our success,” Burton said.
Meehan said raising money has been less of a challenge as the elections draw near because Democrats are ahead in the polls and there is more enthusiasm for Democratic candidates.
“When people think you’re going to win, it becomes easier to raise money,” he said.
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