By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has set up a federal political action committee to aid fellow Democrats in their push to take back Congress, a top adviser said yesterday.
HILLPAC will allow New York's junior senator to contribute to other federal candidates, pay for her political travel across the country and boost her stature with party leaders. The PAC can accept contributions of up to $5,000 from individuals, five times the limit for regular federal campaign committees.
Clinton adviser Harold Ickes said yesterday the leadership PAC was intended to raise money for Democratic candidates as the party looks to gain majorities in the House and Senate. Ickes, who will serve as the PAC's chairman, dismissed speculation it might be evidence of Clinton's possible interest in a presidential bid.
Several presidential candidates, including Dan Quayle, Lamar Alexander and Al Gore, have set up leadership PACs before seeking the White House. Alexander, for example, used his PAC to pay for issue ads in Iowa and New Hampshire before he entered the race.
Clinton has said repeatedly that she will not seek the presidency in 2004. The new head of the Democratic National Committee, Clinton friend and top fund-raiser Terry McAuliffe, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press" that he was certain Clinton would not run for president in 2004. Still her name is often mentioned when Democratic prospects for taking back the White House are discussed.
Ickes said Clinton also is considering setting up a state PAC in New York through which she could raise far more money than allowed under federal contribution limits. New York law permits contributions of up to $150,000 for individuals and $5,000 for corporations, said Carl Montanino, supervisor of the state's campaign finance unit. Other groups, like labor unions, may make unlimited contributions, he said.
The money from such a state PAC cannot be used to directly aid federal candidates but could finance state candidates, Montanino said.
Clinton is a formidable fund-raiser for the Democrats, and while she said recently that she will cut back on her national duties to concentrate on her work as a freshman senator, the establishment of the PAC signals that she is not likely to be retreating from the national stage.
"Her job first and foremost is being a senator from New York," Ickes said. "'When she has time to raise money, she will."
Leadership PACs also are used to curry favor with party leaders and other influential lawmakers. Clinton has, for instance, expressed interest in eventually landing a seat on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. Donations from HILLPAC could help her do that.
HILLPAC's executive director will be Patti Solis-Doyle, the former first lady's longtime White House scheduler. Ickes will be chairman. The federal PAC will have an office in Washington, Ickes said.
Many advocates of campaign finance reform oppose leadership PACs, saying they essentially allow lawmakers to double-dip with campaign contributors. Nonetheless, they are increasingly commonplace, even among new lawmakers.
News of Clinton's PAC was first reported in yesterday's edition of The Washington Post.
