DENVER — DENVER - An actor from The Wire stood next to Maryland's comptroller for two hours, shaking hands with party guests. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put his arm around Maryland's attorney general at a Cajun restaurant filled with Marylanders and said his father would be proud.
The Democratic National Convention is a place for ambitious politicians to punctuate their prominence by hosting evening receptions with open bars and savory appetizers, or a breakfast for scores of their friends. Big-name guests are part of the draw.
To pay for them, politicians turn to lobbyists, labor unions and, commonly, regulated industries doing business in the state - raising thousands of dollars outside the typical limits of campaign finance donations.
FOR THE RECORD
An article in the Aug. 28 editions of The Baltimore Sun misidentified the source of funding for a Democratic convention party in Denver co-hosted by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. The financing came from John Delaney, chief executive officer of CapitalSource, and not from the company itself. THE BALTIMORE SUN REGRETS THE ERROR
Gov. Martin O'Malley and other state politicians who wanted their names attached to a celebration were told by Maryland Democratic officials to find donors who would give roughly $20,000 to the state party.
There was no shortage of takers.
With a single phone call, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler took care of the funding for his party Tuesday night at Gumbo's, a Louisiana-style restaurant in downtown Denver. John K. Delaney, CEO of commercial lender CapitalSource Inc., picked up the entire cost.
Gansler said Delaney volunteered to make the contribution because of their long-standing friendship. "We go skiing together," Gansler said. "We vacation together."
The state party had a goal of raising $500,000 for events at the Denver convention, executive director Quincy Gamble said. The largest donor: Constellation Energy, which has been in protracted battles with state regulators over the price it can charge for electricity in Maryland.
State campaign finance law places a $4,000 limit on donations to individual campaigns. But there is no such limit on donations to party central committees used for administrative expenses, so companies and lobbyists can give as much as they like to the party to be used on festivities.
Federal ethics laws preclude members of Congress from taking part in such events.
Gansler asserted that the large contributions for the parties carry less influence than individual donations to politicians because "the ultimate benefactor of that money is the Democratic Party."
But the system also cloaks accountability. When the Democratic Party files its required revenue and expense reports, there will be no accounting that a $20,000 donation from CapitalSource was solicited by Gansler.
