Democrats Rip Mark Kennedy’s PAC Fundraisers

Minneapolis Star Tribune
By Greg Gordon

Democrats on Thursday assailed the Republicans’ Minnesota Senate candidate, Rep. Mark Kennedy, for appearing at four Washington fundraisers in the past three days, each inviting donations from special interest political action committees (PACs).

Kennedy, they noted, is saying that he will be independent and push for change in scandal-torn Washington, even while appearing at fundraisers sponsored by lobbyists.

He was to appear at an event Thursday night with Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who headed a GOP project to press lobbyists to support Republicans.

Through March 31, Kennedy had accepted $1.3 million from PACs, more than 25 percent of his donations.

“If Mark Kennedy really wants voters to believe he’s going to change Washington, he shouldn’t be shaking down big money special interests for campaign cash between votes,” said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The committee and the state DFL criticized Kennedy one day after Minnesota Republican Party chairman Ron Carey accused Democratic Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar of hypocrisy for assailing lobbyists’ influence in Washington when she was one herself in the 1980s and 1990s.

Kennedy’s campaign manager, Pat Shortridge, contended that the Democrats’ fundraising salvos were merely an attempt to create a “smokescreen” and “muddy the water” to protect Klobuchar, the Hennepin County attorney who has the DFL endorsement.

While Kennedy’s campaign has “never made a secret of the fact that we raise money in Washington,” he also has received nearly 21,000 contributions from individuals, Shortridge said.

He rejected criticism that this week’s events give the lobbyists inroads with Kennedy, saying that “people who support Mark share his beliefs. If they think they’re getting anything else [for their donations], they are mistaken.”

Klobuchar still faces a primary election challenge from fellow Democrat Ford Bell.

But the exchanges show how sparks are already flying in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton.

June 23, 2006 | Filed Under DSCC, News Mentions 

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