Gephardt, Kerry focus on funding

Two of Howard Dean's chief rivals are scrambling for funds in an effort to avoid being overwhelmed by the free-spending Vermonter, whose torrid fund-raising pace shows little sign of cooling off.

Representative Richard A. Gephardt and Senator John F. Kerry have heavy fund-raising schedules early this month. Gephardt, who polls show is locked tightly with Dean in the first delegate contest, the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19, will limit public appearances as he attends about two dozen fund-raisers in at least eight states and Washington, D.C., in the first 18 days of this month. Kerry has 10 fund-raisers in five states over the next eight days.

Gephardt's failure to keep pace with Dean in the money race has become a more serious problem since Dean's decision last month to become the first Democratic presidential contender since the system was established to reject public matching funds, freeing him to spend unlimited amounts in every state. In Iowa, the former Vermont governor's campaign is already heavily outspending Gephardt on television ads.

Gephardt, who has not rejected public funds, has repeatedly said he will raise $20 million by year's end. To reach that goal, however, he will have to collect more than $6.3 million in the fourth quarter, about $2.5 million more than he has taken in during any of the first three quarters of 2003.

Dean raised $25.4 million through Sept. 30. His campaign has not announced a goal for this quarter, but one Dean aide noted that in 1995, President Clinton's fund-raising for the same period dipped after a record-setting third quarter. Dean is set to attend a series of celebrity-hosted fund-raising events in New York City on Monday. He has tied the events to his prodigious Internet network, soliciting contributions from individuals who will attend simultaneous holiday parties in nine cities, featuring an "interactive video" hookup with the candidate.

Retired General Wesley K. Clark also has a major event in New York City next week and expects to take in $1.5 million on his way to a projected $12 million in the fourth quarter, his campaign says. Clark entered the race in September and took in $3.5 million in the last two weeks of the month.

Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, who had raised $3.4 million through September, will also be in New York, raising money at a luncheon next Sunday. The following day he will attend a money event in Washington, D.C.

Kerry, who followed Dean out of the public funding system and plans to spend some of his own money, raised $20 million through September, but his fund-raising has dropped off after a fast start. Michael Meehan, his campaign spokesman, said Kerry has fund-raising events today and tomorrow in New York, a Friday event in New Hampshire, and five fund-raisers in three California cities on Sunday and Monday.

Gephardt's fund-raising pace is ahead of the three prior quarters, spokesman Erik Smith said, declining to provide specific numbers. Gephardt campaign manager Steve Murphy said the candidate "will be in the ballpark" of $20 million, but that in any event he will make adjustments to keep to a tight budget for early voting states. Last month, the Gephardt campaign's higher-paid staff members took a pay cut.

Among Gephardt's upcoming events is a major fund-raiser hosted by New York City lawyers on Dec. 11, according to attorney Stephan Peskin, a former president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. Peskin previously raised money for the presidential campaign of Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, a fellow trial lawyer, but has moved to Gephardt, whom he sees as "a formidable force against" President Bush.