Report follows campaign's money trail

WASHINGTON - Enron Corp. is bankrupt and its top executives are facing criminal prosecution, but its political legacy continues.

A new report published Thursday finds that of all the people and companies that have contributed millions of dollars to President Bush during his political career, Enron remains his leading career donor with more than $600,000 in contributions.

The president has consistently denied that Enron's generosity influenced him in any way.

Among Bush's Democratic challengers, only John Edwards has had a more generous corporate patron. That was Hollywood producer Stephen Bing, whose Shangri-La Entertainment has given him $906,000, according to the report by the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity.

Titled "The Buying of the President 2004," the report suggests special interest money is the single most important factor influencing the selection of presidential nominees.

"In every presidential election since 1976," notes the report's author, Charles Lewis, "the candidate who has raised the most money at the end for the year preceding the election . . . has become his party's nominee for the general election."

Bush and Democrat Howard Dean were the financial leaders at the end of 2003. Final fundraising reports for the fourth quarter of 2003 are due to be filed at the Federal Election Commission at the end of January.

According to Lewis' analysis, Dean's financial primacy over his Democratic rivals means the upcoming primary balloting season will likely be nothing more than a formality before he is declared the party's nominee to challenge Bush in November.

Enron contributed more than $6-million to candidates between the beginning of 1989 and end of 2001, when the company went bankrupt as a result of corporate malfeasance. More than two-thirds of that money went to Republicans, and Bush received the largest share of Enron's political donations: $602,625 through last Sept. 30.

In exchange for Enron's generosity, Lewis said, the company received many political favors from the Republicans. He noted former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay credited Bush with helping his company, for example, by championing alternative minimum tax relief for independent oil and gas producers.

"By the way," Lewis added, "in 2003, executives of the reorganized, bankrupt, disgraced Enron - including Joseph W. Sutton, the company's chairman - continued to contribute to the Bush campaign."

During 2003, Bush's campaign collected an estimated $130-million in donations for his upcoming race. By that standard, Enron's total contributions are only slightly more than the half a million dollars a day that the president is currently raising.

The report offered no explanation why Bing, the son of a wealthy New York real estate investor, gave so much money to Edwards, who currently represents North Carolina in the Senate.

But movie magazines portray the younger Bing as a man trying hard to make it big in Hollywood, where many executives contribute heavily to political candidates. Bing has contributed nearly $7.5-million to Democratic party activities, the report said.

A former trial lawyer, Edwards has also received large donations from law firms.

The center's study also found:

- Dean's top career patron is Time Warner, which has given him $65,225. And six of the former Vermont governor's top 10 lifetime contributors are schools: Harvard, University of California, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, Dartmouth and Emory.

- Rep. Richard Gephardt's biggest lifetime donor was Anheuser-Busch, the beer company based in his home state of Missouri. In exchange for $517,000 in contributions, the report said, Gephardt has supported many legislative initiatives sought by the company. Four of Gephardt's largest lifetime contributors are labor unions, led by the Teamsters Union with nearly $250,000.

- Before joining the race for the Democratic nomination, former Gen. Wesley Clark received as much as $830,000 in personal income from a single corporation, Acxiom, headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., to serve as a lobbyist and consultant. A newcomer to politics, Clark has received $6,250 in campaign contributions from Citigroup, his most generous donor.

- Sen. John Kerry's biggest donor is the Boston-based law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, which has given him more than $230,000. Kerry's brother, Cameron, joined the firm in 1983 after managing John's successful campaign for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. The center says Kerry has championed the interests of the firm's clients.

- Sen. Joe Lieberman's top contributor is Citigroup, $110,646; Rep. Dennis Kucinich, United Auto Workers, $53,534; Carol Mosley Braun, EMILY'S List, $89,739; Al Sharpton, Inner City Broadcasting Corp., $27,300.

None of the candidates agreed to be interviewed by the center about donations to their campaigns.

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