Copyright 1994 The Washington Post  
The Washington Post
June 23, 1994, Thursday, Final Edition
SECTION: STYLE; PAGE C1

LENGTH: 1129 words

HEADLINE: A Taste Of Money;
At Democrats' Dinner, Protests and Profits

SERIES: Occasional

BYLINE: Roxanne Roberts, Washington Post Staff Writer

BODY:
Campaigns cost money. Contributors have money. Political parties throw fund-raisers. No problem.

Problem.

Lots of problems, in fact. As more than 100 protesters outside the Washington Hilton shouted for campaign reform last night, President Clinton and 2,000 well-heeled guests raised $ 3.5 million for the Democratic National Committee. This would have been an unremarkable event -- like dozens of other political pep rallies in Washington -- except for a report released yesterday by the public interest lobby Common Cause, which accuses Clinton of auctioning off the presidency.

"What you need to do is go out of this room tonight and not just be glad you gave money to this party and our administration and for our continued efforts," a resentful Clinton urged the audience after reciting a litany of his accomplishments. "Every time you hear one of your fellow Americans say some cynical and nonsensical thing implying that we're all up here just trying to feather our nests and it doesn't make any difference what's done and everything's in trouble -- you tell them the truth. ... We did not get here by being cynics. We got here by being believers!"

What he didn't say, of course, is that the $ 1,500-a-plate dinner is exactly the sort of thing Clinton vowed to eliminate if he got elected.

"This is business as usual," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Common Cause. While promising to reform the campaign finance system, Clinton and the Democrats have raised $ 40.5 million in "soft money" -- contributions not limited by campaign finance laws -- from July 1992 through March 1994. During the same period, the Republicans collected $ 21.4 million. The president, said Wertheimer, is now the "leading practitioner of the abuses of the system."

"Washington is a company town," said dinner co-chair Bob Strauss. "The primary business of Washington is politics. Both parties, quite correctly, use these occasions to raise money."

And raise they did. Strauss, along with co-chairs Dwayne Andreas, chairman and CEO of Archer Daniels Midland Co.; Arthur Coia, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America; Washington lobbyist Daniel Dutko; and New York financier Ron Perelman, helped push the DNC coffers to their highest six-month total ever.

But as dinners go, it was standard fare: an "American Celebration" complete with a grinning donkey dressed like Uncle Sam in the lobby, two private pre-dinner receptions with Clinton for big money men, and Kenny Loggins attempting to sing while guests chewed on Iowa beef and campaign rhetoric by DNC Chairman David Wilhelm and dinner chair Vernon Jordan.

Jordan was the only speaker who addressed the five-letter word of the night: M-O-N-E-Y.

"We know, my friends, that there are better ways to raise resources to fight our campaigns for change," he said. "And that is why we embrace and honor the good people who greeted us outside of this hotel this evening.

"But I say to you, no administration has done more to advance campaign finance reform to the top of the nation's agenda, no administration has worked harder to strengthen the laws governing lobbying, no administration has done more to police and strengthen the rules by which its White House employees operate. This is a record for which the president can and should be proud."

But Clinton's timing is off.

On Tuesday, he invited 500 of the DNC's big donors -- individuals who gave $ 10,000 or more and corporations that contributed $ 15,000 -- to the White House for a reception. This was the third such event to be hosted at the executive mansion since Clinton was elected.

All this while the White House, said Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers, is thinking about raising public donations to help pay up to $ 2 million in legal expenses for Clinton and his wife -- an unprecedented move for a sitting U.S. president. The Clintons may seek donations of up to $ 1,000 per person for the legal defense fund, which would cover expenses relating to Whitewater and the lawsuit by former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones.

Earlier yesterday, the president bristled at reporters, saying that while he still supported campaign finance reform, he could not stand by while Republicans use the old fund-raising system to attack his policies.

"I don't believe in unilateral disarmament," he said. "We have done our best to defend ourselves in the system that now exists."

During the presidential campaign, Clinton's "Putting People First" book stated that "American politics is being held hostage by big money interests." In a Rose Garden ceremony a few months after taking office, Clinton announced a campaign reform bill he said would ensure "the voice of the people is heard over the voice of the special interests." Campaign reform "must go hand in hand," he said, with economic and health care reform.

But 13 months later, the House and Senate have passed different versions of the bill but failed to agree on a final law. In the meantime, the DNC has continued to raise vast sums of "soft money" that would be eliminated under the law Clinton says he wants.

Individuals, corporations and labor unions now can bypass spending limits by giving to "non-federal" party accounts. This so-called "soft money" can't be given directly to federal candidates, but parties can use it for generic purposes such as voter registration.

A DNC official said the party expected about 60 percent of the proceeds from last night's dinner to be soft money, which is controversial because it brings back the $ 100,000 donors whom reformers thought they had banned after Watergate-era excesses. Each major presidential nominee gets public money -- $ 54 million each in the 1992 election -- with the understanding he won't raise private funds. But the current loophole allows each party to raise millions more in soft money for the general election.

Besides, the Democrats have to fight those nasty old Republicans, said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. On Tuesday, Fazio attacked "radical right" Republicans, accusing them of taking over state parties and spending unreported contributions in their campaigns.

Enough hardball, already. After dinner, Clinton and company set out for the Omni Shoreham Hotel to glad-hand at the Saxophone Club reception, where 1,000 young Democrats aspired to be players. This cracker-and-crudites crowd raised $ 250,000 for the DNC, even if they sympathized with some of the protestors.

"Actually, some of my friends are with that group," said Daryl Elfield. "[The Saxophone Club] is a legitimate group because it's a PAC, there's no soft money. I think it's okay to be here."

Staff writers Chuck Babcock and Aimee Miller contributed to this report.



GRAPHIC: PHOTO, THE BIG BUCKS STOP HERE: PRESIDENT CLINTON AT LAST NIGHT'S DNC FUND-RAISER. HARRY NALTCHAYAN