The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 2)

One overlooked pile of Democratic cash is the pot that former Sen. Robert Torricelli still controls in New Jersey. He is playing like the Godfather, waiting for his former friends in the Senate, who helped push him out, to come and ask for a favor or two. The Torch has millions to play with, and has thus far not doled much out to the party. He could use it himself for another run at some position, or to retire any remaining debts from campaigns past. But it has to be used for something.

"We'd like to think he'd share it with us to help us win back majority in the House and the Senate," says a Democratic National Committee fundraiser. "It's about all he can really use it for. Unless he wants to be bitter and hoard it."

Perhaps The Torch doesn't feel like backing a loser. In the past month, it has become increasingly clear that, barring a disaster of amazing political proportions, Democrats have no shot at gaining seats in either body. In fact, Republicans in the Senate are now openly talking about expanding their margin of majority enough to make it filibuster proof. That would require a pick up of about five seats. Targets now include Georgia, South Dakota, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina,. That assumes some retirements, as well as holding seats in Illinois and Alaska, which may not happen. While Corzine has failed to find dependable and electable deep pocket candidates in just about every state where he needs one, he has found a wealthy taker in Illinois, where businessman Blair Hull has expressed interest in a run for retiring Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's seat.

p> NOT ALL IS FAIR br> While former Gov. Howie Dean continues to nibble around the fringes of the Democratic Party, the one constituency he has cultivated most assiduously appears to have turned its back on him. /p>

In every city Dean visits, he makes sure to spend time with gay, lesbian and transgender groups. He has been met warmly in New York and San Francisco by those groups. The reason for his seeming appeal is that he rammed through in Vermont the nation's first de facto gay marriage legislation.

But when Dean's campaign attempted to have their man keynote the Human Rights Campaign national conference in Atlanta this past weekend, the prestigious and most influential gay and lesbian group took a pass. Instead it invited Sen. John Edwards.

Why decline a chance to repay Dean for his years of loyalty, and instead hang with the hot candidate? "We want to have a louder voice in who our national leaders are going to be," says a California-based HRC staffer. "Dean isn't going to win. Edwards is a stronger candidate. He's the kind of face we need to be associated if we're going to be taken seriously. We'll give Dean his due, I'm sure. He just isn't the guy we needed for a national event. "

topics:
Business, NATO, Alaska