Rudolph W. Giuliani talks about his health-care plan during a campaign appearance in Rochester, N.H.
(By Jim Cole -- Associated Press)
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Thompson's Campaign Gets
Some Home-State Help
Former senator Fred Thompson got a big home-state boost on the way to raising $3.4 million in June in preparation for a bid for the GOP presidential nomination. A lmost half the money raised came from Tennessee donors -- $1.67 million from 789 donors.
Although Thompson is expected to bill himself as a populist outsider when he enters the presidential race in September, the contribution report that his aides released yesterday is peppered with donations from the inside-the-Beltway crowd.
That included a $2,300 contribution from Douglas J. Feith, the former undersecretary of defense and one of the most vocal advocates of the war in Iraq, and a donation from David N. Bossie, the head of Citizens United, a Washington-based conservative grass-roots group.
Unlike declared candidates, who file reports quarterly with the Federal Election Commission, Thompson listed his contributors on a form filed with the Internal Revenue Service. One element the FEC uses to determine whether Thompson has started campaigning is how much, and how, he spends the money coming into his accounts. Apparently mindful of this, Thompson spent little in June -- just over $625,000 -- and used the money largely to build a staff, travel and construct his campaign Web site.
One of his largest source of donors, contributing more than $27,000, was the firm INS Capital Management LLC, a financial services company with offices in New York and Nashville. He also received $2,300 (the maximum allowed) from Dick Wolf, the creator of the "Law and Order" television series Thompson starred in until recently, and the same amount from Wolf's wife. Former senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York also kicked in $2,300.
Fred Malek, president of Thayer Capital Partners, is one of Sen. John McCain's finance chairmen, but Malek's wife, Marlene, gave $2,300 to Thompson.
Thompson also received $2,300 from Peyton Manning, a former University of Tennessee standout who is the quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.
