LAT: Politicians rush for California's gold; significant role in electing Democrats

[DeepModem Mom]

They rush for California's gold
By Dan Morain, Times Staff Writer
February 26, 2007

....For politicians, including presidential candidates, (California is) where the money is.

Last week alone, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden made the trek. Republican Sen. John McCain was also here, following his rival, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who had been here the week before, while Republican Mitt Romney will be here next month....

Californians spent at least $502 million on federal campaigns in the last four years, federal campaign records show -- 24 percent more than runner-up New York and about 13 percent of all federal campaign funds raised nationally....

***

In the past four years, Deborah Rappaport and her husband, venture capitalist Andrew Rappaport, of Woodside, have spent $5.2 million on federal politics, much of it to encourage young people to vote. They held a fund-raiser for White House candidate John Edwards of North Carolina earlier this month, raising more than $100,000....

In one of the more unusual uses of campaign money, Silicon Valley Democrats Michael and Frances Kieschnick helped fund a successful campaign in 2006 to elect Democrats as secretaries of state who will oversee balloting in five swing states -- a reaction to perceived bias by Republican officials in Florida and Ohio in the 2000 and 2004 presidential vote counting....

***

Californians had a significant role in the 2006 fight for control of Congress, donating $6.6 million directly to candidates in the six U.S. Senate races that tipped control to Democrats, campaign records show.

In Montana, Democrat Jon Tester ousted Republican Sen. Conrad Burns by 3,600 votes, aided in part by Richard and Marilyn Mazess of Montecito. They gave $50,000 to the independent group Campaign Money Watch, which aired a commercial ridiculing Burns for his ties to "big oil."

Hollywood moguls Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg and other Californians donated $500,000 directly to Tester....

(NOTE: Californians also contribute to Republicans; there are many examples in the article.)

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-caldonors27feb27,0,7523134.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[cboy4]

1. The Dems need to keep watch over California.....there are too many

effing freepers moving/living here.

It's still a blue state, but with the exception of the Bay Area and L.A., there is quite a bit of red. :puke:

We need our electoral votes, to say the least.

[tblue]

2. Yep. Dems should never, never take CA for granted. I know the Republics consider it the Holy Grail

because if they can take CA, they won't have to worry about the battleground states.

[cboy4]

3. I justed looked it up......my state is worth 55 electoral votes.

We'd probably lose for sure.

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/calculator.html