Bush, Dean lead battle for money

WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean is setting a torrid pace in the contest for dollars in the Democratic presidential campaign but it's still President Bush who is proving to be the superstar in raising campaign cash overall.\nBush is expected to have taken in a record of roughly $43 million by the time the third quarter ends Tuesday, bringing his total this year to $78 million or so, Republican Party officials said.\nDean, raising millions on the Internet, will probably take in $13 million to $16 million this quarter, a campaign insider said. That would lift him to at least $23.5 million for the race so far and probably make him the Democratic money leader for the year.\nDemocratic strategists say Dean could raise at least double what his party's other top hopefuls will collect during the three-month fund-raising period. The former Vermont governor has already passed the Democratic record set by President Clinton, who took in $10.3 million over three months in 1995 for his re-election.\nThe new Democratic challenger, Wesley Clark, is turning to some of Clinton's most formidable fund-raisers to inject millions of dollars into his campaign quickly.\nBush set an overall single-quarter record in the last period, collecting $35.1 million in his first six weeks of the campaign, breaking the $29.7 million record he set in 1999. Bush's estimated take of $43 million in this period would set another record; he is expected to raise roughly $200 million or more overall for the primary season, with no GOP opponent.\nDean spokeswoman Tricia Enright said that while Dean's flood of online contributions is drawing most of the attention, he also is using direct mail and events to raise money.\nClark is on pace to collect $2 million or more by quarter's end, after only a few weeks in the race. The retired general, like Clinton an Arkansan, is getting a boost from some of the former president's most prolific fund-raisers.\nThe team so far includes Skip Rutherford, head of the Clinton presidential library; New York venture capitalist Alan Patricoff, who helped raise millions for Clinton; Eli Segal, chief of staff to Clinton's 1992 campaign and former head of the AmeriCorps national service program Clinton created; Mickey Kantor, commerce secretary in the Clinton administration; and Bob Burkett, a business consultant in Washington and Los Angeles.\nPatricoff said Clark will have to get his fund-raising organization off the ground quickly, but working with people who attracted donors for Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore will be a big help.\n"We know who the people are, where the people are," Patricoff said. "He's going to come on fast, all over the country."\nHollywood fund-raiser Laura Berthold also has signed up to collect money for Clark. Berthold, who ran a Hollywood women's political committee, also is raising money for Dean. She is not a veteran of the Clinton crew.\nJohn Kerry, Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman are expected to be in the $4 million to $6 million range in third-quarter fund raising. John Edwards is expected to come in below that, along with the other four candidates in the 10-way Democratic race.\nEdwards led Democrats in the first quarter, with $7.4 million, and had raised a total of $11.9 million as of June 30, the end of the last quarter.\n"As we have always said, the third quarter will be our lowest in terms of dollars raised because our focus the past few months was on talking to voters, not fund raising," Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said, adding that Edwards will have enough to compete.\nMany campaigns are sending frequent e-mail pitches to prospective donors, seeking help with the current fund-raising deadline looming. The next campaign finance reports are due at the Federal Election Commission Oct. 15.\n"We're doing well, but we need that final push to reach our goal," Gephardt wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. "Your $25, $50, $100, or $250 contribution will help us meet that goal and continue building our organization in the early states and keep our television ads on the air."\nKerry fund-raiser Alan Solomont said Dean "hit a gusher" in Internet fund raising, but he contends Kerry has the strongest national operation for traditional fund raising. If Kerry were to finish this quarter with about $5 million, he would have collected about $21 million so far.\nClark has his work cut out for him, Solomont said.\n"At this point he can't afford to spend all of his time trying to build a fund-raising organization," he said. "He's got to get himself out there"