House GOP Out Fund-Raises Dems

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Dateline: WASHINGTONThe House Republican fund-raising committee collected $44 million in the first half of the year, three times as much as its Democratic rival, but both began July with about $6.5 million to spend.

The National Republican Congressional Committee spent much of its money on telemarketing, including prospecting for new donors, an effort that has paid off, spokesman Carl Forti said Wednesday.

The NRCC picked up more than 230,000 new contributors from January through June, helping it compensate for the loss of "soft money" _ donations in any amount from corporations and labor unions as well as unlimited contributions for any source. The nation's new campaign finance law bars national party committees from raising soft money.

The committees can only collect so-called hard money, limited donations from individuals and political action committees.

The NRCC began July with $6.5 million cash on hand.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, working to regain the House majority from the GOP, raised about $14.5 million in the first half of this year and began the month with $6.3 million cash on hand. It had 33,000 new donors.

Both committees had debts from the 2002 midterm elections.

The NRCC said it has paid off its $6 million debt. The DCCC has cut its debt in half, to $2.6 million.

Republicans hold 229 seats in the House to the Democrats 205 with one independent.

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Democratic presidential candidate Bob Graham said he is stepping up his fund raising after collecting less than all his major rivals for the nomination in the period from April to June.

Graham has raised $3.1 million this year, which puts his campaign warchest at a distant sixth place in a nine-candidate field. He said a candidate needs $15 million to $20 million to be at their optimum, "and we'll be there."

Graham said he'll be expanding his national fund-raising program and is traveling to California next week as part of the effort. He also said he hoped to emulate some of the success that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has had raising money on the Internet, which propelled him to first place in money raised during the second quarter.

Many of Dean's supporters have responded to his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq. Graham noted that he is the only senator in the presidential race who voted against the war resolution, which may give him a similar appeal.

He also pointed to the success of his Bobcat program in which supporters sign up to raise $1,000 on his behalf. "We have several thousand people who are participating in that," he said, but when he asked his aides exactly how many Bobcats had signed up, his spokesman said the most recent number is 600.

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Democratic presidential hopeful Al Sharpton and several black leaders will leave Saturday for a weeklong trip to Africa to advocate for peaceful democratic elections in Liberia, his aides said.

Sharpton plans to arrive in Ghana, where he will meet with groups who oppose Liberian President Charles Taylor before traveling to Liberia to meet Taylor on Monday or Tuesday. Sharpton hopes to fly to South Africa to meet with the country's former president, Nelson Mandela, but his aides say the meeting has not been confirmed.

Sharpton's delegation includes Cornel West, an African-American studies scholar at Princeton University; the Rev. Al Sampson of Chicago; attorney Lewis Meyers; and Akbar Muhammad, who lives in Ghana and has served as the international representative for the Nation of Islam.

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Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.