PAC Funds Undercut Claims in Senate Race

Md. Candidates Try To Run as Outsiders

The latest television commercial in Democrat Benjamin L. Cardin's bid for an open U.S. Senate seat in Maryland says he "always tries to do what's right, what's in the best interest of Maryland families, taking on the drug companies, the oil companies, the insurance companies."

His campaign, however, has accepted checks from committees representing six large pharmaceutical companies, 22 oil and energy outfits, 27 insurance firms and industry associations, and eight HMOs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which compiles such figures on its Web site.

Republican Michael S. Steele's sunny Senate campaign ad tells voters that he will "talk straight about what's wrong in both parties. You know, to get a different kind of government, you're gonna need a different kind of senator."

Yet his candidacy is financed by some of the nation's best-known Washington Republicans -- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was the host of Steele's first fundraiser -- with help from "Team Steele," a group of lobbyists assigned to bundle hefty PAC contributions.

How campaigns are financed is a perennial topic among Washington insiders. But in a year when almost every Maryland Senate candidate is trying to be viewed as an anti-Washington outsider who will battle cronies and special interests, the fine print of fundraising reports can raise some doubts about those claims.

The candidates might present themselves as outsiders, said Bobbie Walton of Common Cause Maryland, but based on their campaign donors, that could be a hard sell. "If they really were outsiders, these people would not be supporting their campaigns," said Walton, the group's executive director.

Cardin's accounts are swelling with more than $874,826 from political action committees, many of them pushing the interests of large corporations. Steele's contributions include $613,578 from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Both candidates say the donations would not inhibit their ability to bring an independent voice to the Senate. Cardin, a congressman, said PAC contributions represent a fraction -- about 18 percent -- of the money he has raised. Steele's spokesman said most of the lieutenant governor's backing, 76 percent, comes from ordinary people "signing onto his agenda for change."

Although they campaign as outsiders, Cardin and Steele have collected amounts through PACs that roughly mirror those of incumbent campaigns. In Virginia, for instance, Sen. George Allen (R) has taken about 20 percent of his $2.5 million in donations from PACs. His Democratic challenger, James Webb, had a little more than $100,000 in special interest support as of his last report.

In explaining their decision to take money from lobbyists and corporate interests, Cardin and Steele said they are responding to a sort of campaign finance arms race, with each citing the other's totals for turning to those donors. Neither Steele nor Cardin would sign a Common Cause pledge to disarm, Walton said, unlike Democratic primary challengers who have agreed not to take PAC money.

"We're running against a candidate that raised more money from special interests as a member of the House than either of Maryland's two senators," said Doug Heye, Steele's spokesman. "That has forced us to be aggressive in our fundraising."

Likewise, Cardin spokesman Oren Shur said the Democrat needs to keep up with lobbyists who serve as the GOP front-runner's fundraising backbone. "Unlike Michael Steele, we do not have a team of coordinated lobbyists assigned to funnel money our way."