2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

and the rest seem to try not displease anyone from either side.

have to agree Sofia should be on the top ten list.

Have you considered the possibility that you might just find it hard to appreciate substance that comes from people you disagree with?

G.O.P. Leader Solicits Money for Charity Tied to Conventionpart of the money would go to pay for late-night convention parties, a luxury suite during President Bush's speech at Madison Square Garden and yacht cruises.

And so campaign finance watchdogs say Mr. DeLay's effort can be seen as, above all, a creative maneuver around the recently enacted law meant to limit the ability of federal officials to raise large donations known as soft money.

"They are using the idea of helping children as a blatant cover for financing activities in connection with a convention with huge unlimited, undisclosed, unregulated contributions," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a Washington group that helped push through the recent overhaul of the campaign finance laws.

Other lawmakers may well follow Mr. DeLay's lead. Already Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, is planning to hold a concert and a reception in conjunction with the convention as a way of raising money for AIDS charities.

Mr. DeLay's charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., was set up in September and has no track record of work. Mr. DeLay is not a formal official of the charity, but its managers are Mr. DeLay's daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro; Craig Richardson, a longtime adviser; and Rob Jennings, a Republican fund-raiser. Mr. Richardson said the managers would be paid by the new charity.

Mr. Richardson said the goal was to give 75 percent of the money it raised to children's charities, including some in the New York area. He said the charity also planned to hold other events at the Super Bowl.

But because the money collected will go into a nonprofit organization, donors get a tax break. And Mr. DeLay will never have to account publicly for who contributed, which campaign finance experts say shields those who may be trying to win favor with one of the most powerful lawmakers in Washington.

Mr. Richardson dismissed such criticism. He said that every convention had parties and that by doing this Mr. DeLay was giving some money to worthy causes. He said Mr. DeLay had a long record of providing money to neglected children through his own DeLay Foundation for Kids, based in Houston.

"We are using the opportunity to throw parties, which happen anyway, but to give money back to abused and neglected children," Mr. Richardson said.

The brochure was obtained by The New York Times last Friday and aspects of it were reported yesterday in the newspaper Roll Call in Washington..... [there's more, much more!!]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/14/politics/14DELA.html