McCain donors assist failed rival after endorsement
Former GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback, who threw his support to the Arizona senator after his withdrawal from the race, uses the contributions to help pay off campaign debt.
Some of John McCain's largest political donors sent checks to failed GOP presidential candidate Sam Brownback to help him pay off his campaign debt in the days after the Kansas senator endorsed McCain.
The effort is reminiscent of Hillary Rodham Clinton's donors, who gave $90,000 to former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack after he withdrew from the Democratic presidential campaign and endorsed Clinton last year. Vilsack also used the money to help pay off his debt.
Brownback ended his long-shot bid for the presidency in October, citing a lack of money. He had hoped to become the darling of social conservatives with his stands against abortion and same-sex marriage.
Brownback's endorsement of McCain on Nov. 7 gave the Republican senator from Arizona a much-needed boost at a time when his campaign was faltering; it also helped bolster McCain's credentials among conservatives who have been skeptical of him.
As of Dec. 31, Brownback's presidential campaign remained more than $32,000 in debt. But his campaign made $226,000 in payments in the final three months of 2007, aided in part by donations from McCain backers, Federal Election Commission filings show.
Brownback's filing indicates that after he endorsed McCain, at least 17 donors gave him the maximum $2,300 each -- totaling nearly $40,000. Those donors are among McCain's largest contributors, having given almost $250,000 to his various campaign accounts in recent years.
The timing of the donations raises questions about whether Brownback's endorsement came at a cost, said political science professor Larry N. Gerston of San Jose State University. "It is not as if there is a smoking gun, but there is a lot of smoke here," Gerston said.
McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Tuesday that McCain gave his donor list to Brownback after winning Brownback's endorsement. "There is nothing nefarious," he said.
Brownback's office did not comment.
The Brownback donors include MGM Chairman Harry E. Sloan and his wife, Florence, two of McCain's major Hollywood fundraisers. They have given McCain's presidential campaign a combined $9,200, the maximum under the campaign finance law that McCain helped write. The Sloans wrote separate $2,300 checks to Brownback's presidential account on Nov. 29. Harry Sloan declined to comment.
Malibu billionaire A. Jerrold Perenchio, former chairman of the Spanish-language television network Univision has given McCain's presidential campaign $4,600, as has his wife, Margaret. Perenchio, who donated $2,300 to Brownback on Nov. 23, could not be reached for comment.
dan.morain@latimes.com
Times researcher Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.
