Clinton Camp Hasn't Written Off Fundraising Couple Who Helped Competitor

The life of a big-dollar Democratic donor isn't always easy. In between attending lavish parties and being wined and dined by various luminaries, sometimes you have to make tough choices.

Take Beth and Ron Dozoretz. The power couple are longtime heavyweights in national Democratic money circles; he is a health-care executive, she a former finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee.

They also happen to be close friends with the Clintons. The Dozoretzes were frequent guests at the Clinton White House, helped collect cash for the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock and chose Bill Clinton as the godfather for one of their children.

But, when the couple opened their Washington, D.C., manse on Friday for a fundraising event, it was New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, not New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, being feted.

"This is an opportunity for individuals to meet Governor Bill Richardson," reads a copy of the invite obtained by the Fix. "A contribution is not required to attend." Of course, if attendees do want to give money, the invite notes that checks can be written to the "Bill Richardson for President Exploratory Committee, Inc."

"They and the governor are longtime friends," Richardson communications director Pahl Shipley explained.

So does this mean that the Dozoretzes have picked their horse? Accounts vary. Some suggest that the couple has indicated privately that they will be with Richardson. Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson begged to differ.

"Beth Dozoretz is a good friend of the campaign, and she has made a major commitment to help Hillary," he said. "We appreciate her strong support."

Reached at home, Beth Dozoretz chose not to comment. The plot thickens. . . .

CLUB FOR GROWTH ON '08

The Club for Growth wants to play a role in the 2008 GOP presidential primary. Anyone who doubts the implications, give former senator Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) a call.

A political group for fiscal conservatives, the club has become a force in congressional elections, taking aim at moderate Republicans who don't support conservative causes such as tax cuts and spending discipline. Some GOP lawmakers privately blame the group for the party's loss of Senate control in November. The Club for Growth threw substantial resources behind a primary challenge to Chafee that wound up weakening the longtime incumbent financially and politically.

Chafee survived the primary but lost in the general election to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. Seven Club-backed conservatives, however, won House races in November. Despite the grumbling from some GOP quarters, the group has plenty of conservative admirers for its refusal to compromise its principles.

In the coming months, those unyielding standards will be applied to Republican White House hopefuls. The Club for Growth intends to scour every contender's record and advise its 40,000 members on who passes ideological muster.

One will not be Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and the subject of "Presidential White Paper #1." Acknowledging that Huckabee pushed major tax cuts through his state legislature, the Club for Growth lists seven tax increases that he also supported, along with spending increases and a mixed record on school choice. "Calling oneself an economic conservative does not make one so," the paper concluded.

Tim Russert cited the findings on "Meet the Press" last week, after Huckabee announced his candidacy. "That's a tough record to sell to a Republican audience in primary states," Russert noted. "It shouldn't be if they look at the real record," Huckabee shot back.