Biden's Victories Unleash Something He's Never Had: Money

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

BY BRIAN SLODYSCO

WASHINGTON (AP) — Strapped for cash and badly outspent by his rivals, Joe Biden barely had enough money to air television ads in critical Super Tuesday battlegrounds.

He won’t have that problem again.

Support for Biden from the Democratic establishment abruptly materialized Wednesday as influential donors lined up behind the former vice president following his romp through 10 of the 14 contests. The showing reshaped the primary into a two-person race between him and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, providing clarity in what had been a crowded field.

In Los Angeles, a pricey Biden event suddenly sold out on Tuesday night. In Florida, a prominent fundraiser received an outpouring of phone calls from donors who now want to help Biden clinch the Democratic nomination.

Others who hadn’t been in touch with the campaign were nonetheless laying the groundwork for big-dollar events. Bryan Rafanelli, a major Democratic donor in Boston who was one of Pete Buttigieg’s top fundraisers, was flooded with requests to host a gathering after announcing his support for Biden on social media.

“I don’t have a date. I haven’t talked to the Biden people,” Rafanelli said. “I don’t want to get out over my skis. But it’s going to happen.”

Democratic megadonor Susie Tompkins Buell, who also backed Buttigieg before he dropped out, said in a text message that she now supports Biden and is open to hosting an event.

Biden has never been a particularly successful fundraiser. His perseverance over better-funded candidates, including two billionaires who poured their personal wealth into their campaigns, demonstrates the limits of unlimited money.

But it also underscores the indecision that gripped many moderates, donors included, who had several candidates to choose from until Biden cleared much of the field with a commanding win in Saturday’s South Carolina primary.

“It has been a lot easier to fundraise for Joe Biden in the last 72 hours than it had been over the previous 72 days,” said Alan Patricof, a Wall Street venture capitalist and longtime Biden supporter.

Now that Biden is in a tight contest with Sanders, his campaign is poised to be flooded with cash — the very resource he has sorely lacked. The money will come from donors who say they are nervous about Sanders’ open embrace of democratic socialism and fear his nomination would result in President Donald Trump’s reelection.

“Everyone likes a winner. It’s not very complicated,“ said Tom Nides, a former deputy secretary of state and adviser to Hillary Clinton. “Joe Biden has proven it’s not all about money and not all about organization — it’s about authenticity.”

Biden was running on fumes headed into Super Tuesday, drastically outspent across the country by billionaire former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Billionaire Tom Steyer flooded the airwaves with pricey ads in South Carolina, where he tried to cut into Biden’s support from black voters. And for much of the contest, he lagged in fundraising behind Sanders, Buttigieg and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The sudden interest in Biden is intense — and overwhelming.

At Wednesday’s fundraiser in the posh Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, there was no available parking, and valet service was over capacity, according to a person with direct knowledge of the event. Held at the home of Paramount Pictures executive Sherry Lansing, it exploded from 80 to 350 registered attendees, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, in the days leading up to it.

A Florida consultant said out-of-state donors asked about flying in for a Biden fundraiser. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning details.

Despite the flood of incoming cash, Biden’s newfound financial success could also prove to be a liability. Sanders took aim at him over the issue during a news conference in Vermont on Wednesday.

“You’ve got a candidate from the establishment going out to rich people’s homes, raising all kinds of money,” Sanders said.

Such rhetoric is precisely why some wealthy donors are uneasy about Sanders, who calls for political revolution, and are now eager to work with Biden.

“We had a revolution back in 1776,” Rafanelli said. “We don’t need another now.”

For some longtime supporters, the change in fortunes is cathartic after a monthslong stretch of tough headlines about poorly attended town halls and uneven debate performances that seemed to reinforce a perception of Biden as someone doomed to lose.

“Primaries are always messy,” said Steve Westly, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has been raising money for Biden since he got in the race. “Momentum is everything, and people want to be a part of the wining side.”

Biden’s financial picture began to shift the week before the South Carolina primary. A super PAC backing him called Unite the Country, raised $2.5 million that week. Biden’s campaign also reported raising $10 million in the days after.

Since then, Biden aides say they’ve taken in $7.1 million online during a 42-hour period that included Super Tuesday. Strategists for Unite the Country, which can raise and spend unlimited sums so long as they don’t coordinate with Biden’s campaign, now expect to take in even more.

That will help get Biden’s message out while defending him from attacks by Sanders. The group, which is cutting an ad now, expects to be on the air soon in Missouri, Michigan and Mississippi.

“We are going to defend our guy,” said Unite the Country strategist Steve Schale.

Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.”

Donald Trump Has Weakened Allies And 'Wrecked U.S. Credibility' Says Elizabeth Warren, Vowing To Repair Damage If Elected

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks to guests during a campaign stop at the Val Air Ballroom on November 25, 2019 in West Des Moines, Iowa. Image: Scott Olson/Getty

BY KHALEDA RAHMAN

Donald Trump has weakened the country's relationship with its allies and wrecked U.S. credibility abroad, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said. She vowed to repair the damage if she is elected president.

In an op-ed for The Guardian under the headline "Donald Trump has destroyed American leadership – I'll restore it," Warren claimed three years of the Trump presidency has put the country's alliances under "enormous strain."

"For seven decades, America's strength, security and prosperity have been underpinned by our unmatched network of treaty alliances, cemented in shared democratic values and a recognition of our common security," she wrote. "But after three years of Donald Trump's insults and antics, our alliances are under enormous strain."

The Democratic presidential candidate highlighted the president's recent visit to London for the NATO summit as an example of the damage done by Trump's "hostility" to America's "closest partners." A tape that captured several NATO leaders appearing to mock Trump at a Buckingham Palace reception went viral this week.

The clip showed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appearing to gossip about Trump with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Britain's Princess Anne.

"He takes a 40-minute press conference off the top," an animated Trudeau said, an apparent reference to Trump's long-winded remarks making leaders late for other events. Trudeau later confirmed he was referring to Trump's lengthy news conference with reporters earlier that day.

"You just watched his team's jaws drop to the floor," Trudeau also said in the clip. He later said that was a reference to Trump announcing his decision to hold the next G7 meeting at Camp David.

Trump on Wednesday branded Trudeau "two-faced" and said the Canadian Prime Minister was probably upset that he had mentioned Canada falls short of the NATO target of spending 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense. Trump then scrapped a press conference and flew back to the U.S. early.

In Sunday's op-ed, Warren described Trump's behavior at the NATO summit as "appalling as it was typical."

She wrote that the gathering of NATO leaders should have been an "unequivocal" celebration marking the 70th anniversary of the most successful alliance in history—but said the damage done by Trump's hostility was "on full display."

Warren noted that the success of the NATO alliance was not "easy or obvious" but a "hard-won" accomplishment based on the idea that the U.S. is not made stronger by weakening its allies. "But that is just what Trump has done, repeatedly and deliberately," she wrote.

Warren added that Trump treats U.S. allies as "burdens" yet embraces autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un. She also blasted the president for casting doubt on the U.S. commitment to Nato at a time when a "resurgent" Russia continues to pose a threat.

Warren also cited Trump's blindsiding of the U.S.'s Kurdish allies in Syria by ordering a "precipitate and uncoordinated" withdrawal of troops in October. She accused him of attempting to "shake down" South Korea and Japan, mistaking security alliances for "protection rackets," apparently referencing reports that Trump is demanding those countries pay more to cover the cost of keeping U.S. troops stationed in Asia.

She also claimed Trump has "wrecked U.S. credibility by unilaterally tearing up our international agreements on arms control, non-proliferation and climate change."

Warren added that as president, she would take action to renew the country's "strategic and moral" leadership, starting with rejoining the Paris climate accord, the United Nations' compact on migration and reaffirming the U.S.' "rock-solid" commitment to NATO and its Article 5 provisions of collective defense.

"We can and will protect ourselves and each other—our countries, our citizens and our democracies," she concluded.

The White House has been contacted for comment.

SOURCE: NEWSWEEK

Former Obama Housing Chief Julian Castro Joins 2020 Campaign

Former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, center right, is embraced by his twin brother U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio), center left, during an event where Julian Castro announced his decision to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

BY PAUL J. WEBER

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Assailing President Donald Trump for “a crisis of leadership,” former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro joined the 2020 presidential race Saturday as the rush of Democrats making early moves to challenge the incumbent accelerates.

Castro, who could end up being the only Latino in what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic field, made immigration a centerpiece of his announcement in his hometown of San Antonio, less than 200 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Two days after the president visited the border to promote his promised wall, Castro mocked Trump for claiming that the U.S. faces an “invasion” from its ally to the south. “He called it a national security crisis,” Castro said. “Well, there is a crisis today. It’s a crisis of leadership. Donald Trump has failed to uphold the values of our great nation.”

Castro, the 44-year-old grandson of a Mexican immigrant, said he was running for president “because it’s time for new leadership, because it’s time for new energy and it’s time for a new commitment to make sure that the opportunities that I’ve had are available to every American.”

He made the announcement as a government shutdown drags into the longest in U.S. history, and as the field of 2020 contenders widens and anticipation grows around bigger names still considering runs.

Castro was San Antonio’s mayor for five year and U.S. housing secretary in President Barack Obama’s second term. He became the second Democrat to formally enter race, after former Maryland Rep. John Delaney.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has also started an exploratory committee for president, and four other Democratic senators are taking steady steps toward running. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu elected to Congress, said this week she is planning a bid, too.

Castro is getting an early start in trying to stand out. His first trip as a candidate comes Monday, to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, where an outcry has begun as the White House considers diverting disaster funding to pay for the wall.

The impasse over paying for a border wall that Trump made a central part of his 2016 campaign has led to the partial federal closure. That stalemate, along with Trump’s hard-line immigration stands, drew sharp rebukes from Castro.

“There are serious issues that need to be addressed in our broken immigration system, but seeking asylum is a legal right. And the cruel policies of this administration are doing real and lasting harm,” he said.

He argued for securing the border in a “smart and humane way.”

“There is no way in hell that caging babies is a smart or a right or good way to do it. We say no to building a wall and say yes to building community. We say no to scapegoating immigrants,” he said.

Joining Castro at the campaign kickoff was his twin brother, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, chairman of the Hispanic congressional caucus and a frequent Trump critic. The Spanish-style plaza in the Castro twins’ boyhood neighborhood was packed with supporters who streamed through the gates between a mariachi band. Castro had said leading up to his announcement that a Latino candidate was a must in the 2020 field.

That group of hopefuls is starting to take shape even though the first primary elections are more than a year away.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California this past week published a memoir , a staple of presidential candidates. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke is doing little to dim speculation that he might jump into a field that has no clear front-runner.

Castro is aware he lacks the name recognition of potential 2020 rivals or the buzz surrounding O’Rourke, whose flirtations with 2020 have tantalized donors and activists after a close race last year against Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Even some supporters at Castro’s announcement could be torn if O’Rourke gets in the race. Diana Delrosario, a social worker in San Antonio, warned she might cry while she recounted how Castro once went out of his way as mayor to help wheel her mother out of a restaurant.

“I have this heart for Julian. But it’s going to be a big discussion if Beto decides to run,” said Delrosario, 45.

Castro, who has repeatedly dismissed talk that an O’Rourke candidacy would complicate his own chances, has framed the neighborhood and his upbringing as the story of an underdog.

He was raised by a local Latina activist, and after a brief career in law, was elected mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city at 34. It wasn’t long before Democrats nationally embraced him as a star in the making, particularly one from Texas, where a booming Hispanic population is rapidly changing the state’s demographics and improving the party’s fortunes.

Castro delivered the keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Two years later, President Barack Obama picked him to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

He was on the short list of Hillary Clinton’s potential running mates in 2016. During Castro’s trip this past week to Nevada, one state Latino business leader told Castro that he should again be a top contender for vice president if his campaign falls short.

Like other Democrats running, Castro has said he will not accept money from political action committees tied to corporations and unions, and he has sought to introduce himself to voters as a champion for universal health care and affordable housing.

___

Follow Paul J. Weber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pauljweber

Clinton Kicks Off 2016 Campaign Online, Heads Next To Iowa

An unknown artist placed a poster on a traffic signal in front of the building where Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign offices are located, Sunday, April 12, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York. A top adviser to Clinton announced her much-awaited second campaign for the White House on Sunday in an email to alumni of her first presidential campaign.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton jumped back into presidential politics on Sunday, making a much-awaited announcement she will again seek the White House with a promise to serve as the "champion" of everyday Americans.

Clinton opened her bid for the 2016 Democratic nomination by positioning herself as the heir to the diverse coalition of voters who elected her immediate predecessor and former campaign rival, President Barack Obama, as well as an appeal to those in her party still leery of her commitment to fighting income inequality.

And unlike eight years ago, when she ran as a candidate with a deep resume in Washington, Clinton and her personal history weren't the focus of the first message of her campaign. In the online video that kicked off her campaign, she made no mention of her time in the Senate and four years as secretary of state, or the prospect she could make history as the nation's first female president.

Instead, the video is collection of voters talking about their lives, their plans and aspirations for the future. Clinton doesn't appear until the very end. "I'm getting ready to do something, too. I'm running for president," Clinton said. "Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top.

"Every day Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion, so you can do more than just get by. You can get ahead and stay ahead." It's a message that also made an immediate play to win over the support of liberals in her party for whom economic inequality has become a defining issue. They remain skeptical of Clinton's close ties to Wall Street and the centrist economic policies of the administration of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Many had hoped Clinton would face a challenge from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has said she will not run. "It would do her well electorally to be firmly on the side of average working people who are working harder than ever and still not getting ahead," said economist Robert Reich, a former labor secretary during the Clinton administration who has known Hillary Clinton for nearly five decades.

Unlike some of the Republicans who have entered the race, Clinton was scant on policy specifics on her first day as a candidate. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, for example, kicked off his campaign with a website and online videos that described his positions on an array of domestic and foreign policy issues.

Clinton also began her campaign for president in 2007 with a video, followed by a splashy rally in Des Moines where she said, "I'm running for president, and I'm in it to win it." This time around, Clinton will instead head this week to the first-to-vote Iowa, looking to connect with voters directly at a community college and small business roundtable in two small towns.

"When families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey," she said in the video. This voter-centric approach was picked with a purpose, her advisers said, to show that Clinton is not taking the nomination for granted. Her campaign said Sunday she would spend the next six to eight weeks in a "ramp-up" period, and she would not hold her first rally and deliver a campaign kickoff speech until May.

Clinton is the first high-profile Democrat to get into the race, and she quickly won the endorsement of several leading members of her party, including her home state governor, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.

Still, there are some lesser-known Democrats who are considering challenging her, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. "During this campaign, it is imperative that Secretary Clinton, like every other candidate, address the great challenges of our time: the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality that is crushing our middle class," Sanders said.

The GOP did not wait for her announcement to begin their campaign against her. The party's chairman, Reince Priebus, has outlined plans for a broad effort to try to undermine her record as secretary of state while arguing that her election would be like giving Obama a "third term."

Republicans have also jumped on Clinton's use of a personal email account and server while she was secretary of state, as well as her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in his own online video, said Sunday: "We must do better than the Obama-Clinton foreign policy that has damaged relationships with our allies and emboldened our enemies."

Should she win the Democratic nomination, Clinton will need to overcome history to win the White House. In the last half-century, the same party has held the White House for three consecutive terms only once, during the administrations of Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

As part of her launch, Clinton also will leave the board of her family's foundation. The 2016 campaign is likely to be the most expensive in history, with total spending on both sides expected to well exceed the more than $1 billion spent by each of the two nominees' campaigns four years ago.

This weekend, Clinton campaign fundraisers escalated their outreach to Democratic donors, who largely back her bid, with a flurry of phone calls urging them to donate as soon as possible. Her team on Sunday encouraged donors to become "Hillstarters" by raising $27,000 for the campaign in the next 30 days.

AP White House correspondent Julie Pace in Chicago contributed to this report.

Follow Ken Thomas and Lisa Lerer on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/kthomasdc and http://twitter.com/llerer

ICC Lawyer, Activists Accuse Nigeria's Buhari Of Violence

Nigerian presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari, center, from the All Progressives Congress (APC) rides atop a bus as he arrives during a party rally in Kano, Nigeria. A Dutch lawyer at the ICC and Nigerian rights activists say they have evidence showing Nigeria's 2015 presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari instigated violence that led to the killings of some 800 people after he lost 2011 elections.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A Dutch lawyer at the International Criminal Court and Nigerian rights activists said Thursday they have evidence showing Nigeria's 2015 presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari instigating and inciting violence that led to the killings of some 800 people after he lost 2011 elections.

"There are references to lynching, there's a reference to killing," Goran Sluiter, a human rights lawyer who represents complaints to the ICC, said of video recordings of the former military dictator now campaigning.

Activist Yunana Shibkau said his Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice will use such recordings to convince the International Criminal Court to charge the retired general with crimes against humanity.

Both men spoke to The Associated Press before a news conference Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, saying they hope to pre-empt similar violence at Feb. 14 elections. Sluiter said the timing of the news conference, three weeks before balloting, is because "my clients are really committed to justice being done — an inevitable ingredient for peace and stability in Nigeria."

Buhari's campaign denied the allegations saying "This is all part of the campaign to stop Buhari at all cost." It said the violence was "a spontaneous reaction to perceived electoral shenanigans." Previously it has said such allegations are orchestrated by President Goodluck Jonathan, Buhari's chief rival. Buhari ousted a democratically elected president in 1983 and was then ejected from office in a 1985 coup.

Most analysts are predicting a win for Jonathan in the most closely contested election since military dictatorship ended in 1994. But DaMina Advisors, a research firm focusing on Africa, Thursday published an electoral statistical model that anticipates Buhari would narrowly unseat Jonathan.

Jonathan's party has suffered numerous defections because his candidacy flouts an understanding that the presidency rotate between a Christian southerner, like Jonathan, and a Muslim northerner. Buhari's supporters say he can curb the northeastern Islamic uprising that has become increasingly deadly, and prosecute corruption.

But Shibkau said Buhari should have been prosecuted in Nigeria for inciting the postelection violence in which 65,000 people were also made homeless and Christian churches and schools were burned. He quoted from a 2011 rally where Buhari urges supporters, "If anybody tries to prevent you from guarding your vote, kill them."

Mitt Romney, The Spoiled Brat

In this May 18, 1964, Associated Press file photo, Gov. George Romney and his son, Mitt, look out over the New York World's Fair grounds from the heliport after attending a Michigan breakfast at the Top of the Fair Restaurant. The governor and a large delegation from Michigan are here for Michigan Day at the fair. At right is part of the Chrysler exhibit and behind them is the Ford exhibit. Long before Mitt Romney became the millionaire candidate from Massachusetts, he was his father' son, weeding the garden in the upscale suburb of Detroit where he grew up. He hated the chore. But he idolized the man who made him do it _ George Romney, the outspoken, no-nonsense, auto executive turned politician

Money men: Who are top 5 donors to Romney?

WASHINGTON - For a casino mogul worth an estimated $25 billion, $34.2 million may sound like chump change. Yet that's how much money Sheldon Adelson has donated so far to aid Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and organizations supporting Romney this election, making him the donor of donors for the GOP.

Other top donors giving millions of dollars to aid Romney's campaign include a trio of Texas money moguls and the head of a south Florida-based energy conglomerate. Those donors and others are funding a presidential election on track to cost nearly $2 billion, with money going toward individual Democratic and Republican campaigns as well as independent, "super" political committees working on the campaigns' behalf.

Political donations can open doors that are closed to most people. Big-dollar donors are often invited to state dinners at the White House and other events with the president. They also may be asked to weigh in on public policy, especially if it affects their own financial interests. And the ranks of ambassadors, advisory panels and other government jobs traditionally are filled with those who have been unusually generous during the campaign.

Based on an examination of more than 2.3 million campaign contributions — the methodology is below — The Associated Press has ranked the top five financial supporters bankrolling the Republican presidential run:

No. 1: Sheldon Adelson, 79, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire.

Total: $34.2 million

Adelson is the largest declared donor to the Romney campaign and supporting political committees, providing more than $34.2 million this election season. He and his wife, Miriam, a physician who heads the Nevada-based Adelson Drug Clinic, have given $10 million to the Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing Romney. Adelson also joined relatives to give $24 million to committees backing former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. And he has made public pledges vowing to give $10 million to Karl Rove's American Crossroads super PAC and as much as $100 million this election more broadly to the GOP. Worth an estimated $25 billion, Adelson oversees the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which runs casino and resort interests in Las Vegas, Singapore and Bethlehem, Pa., and Sands China Ltd., a cluster of casinos in the Chinese territory of Macau. He would benefit from loosened trade restrictions and a rise in the Chinese currency rate against the dollar. His company devoted $60,000 this year to lobby on tax issues, foreign tourist visas, travel and Internet gambling issues — and has spent $1.86 million lobbying on legislation dealing with China trade, gambling and travel since 2002. A staunch supporter of Israel, he also is a contributor to the Republican Jewish Coalition, which spent $920,000 since 2002 backing bills aimed at pressuring Iran and enhancing U.S. security cooperation with Israel. Adelson's casino company has advised shareholders that it was under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investigators were said to be focusing on the Macau casinos and reports of missing money and possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

No. 2: Harold Simmons, 81, owner of Contran Corp., a Dallas-based conglomerate worth an estimated $9 billion that specializes in metals and chemical production and waste management.

Total: $16 million

Simmons is a longtime backer of GOP and conservative causes. He has donated $16 million to the party's efforts this year, including more than $11 million to American Crossroads and $800,000 to Restore Our Future. Simmons and his wife, Annette, also gave $2.2 million to Super PACs backing former GOP presidential candidates Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Simmons has been active in political fundraising since the 1990s and in 2004 was a $4 million backer of the Swift Vets campaign, the GOP-backed effort to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's military record in the Vietnam War. Simmons' Titanium Metals Corp. reportedly is a top producer of titanium for weapons and other industrial uses. He also owns a majority stake in Valhi Inc., a Texas-based waste management company, and could benefit from a proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule change that would allow the company's Texas facility to store spent uranium from nuclear power and weapons plants. Contran's subsidiaries have spent $200,000 this year lobbying the NRC, Energy Department, the Senate and House on metals and waste issues, and $4.3 over the past decade, including efforts to protect a Pentagon rule limiting titanium purchases to U.S. producers. Simmons was fined $19,800 by the Federal Election Commission in 1993 for exceeding the then-annual $25,000 limit on individual campaign contributions, which has since been lowered.

No. 3: Bob J. Perry, 80, head of a Houston real estate empire worth an estimated $650 million.

Total: $15.3 million

Perry has given about $15.3 million to aid the Romney campaign and allied causes so far this election season. Long active in Texas and national GOP politics, Perry donated nearly $9 million to Restore Our Future and a total of $6.5 million to American Crossroads. Before backing Romney this year, Perry gave $100,000 to the super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry (no relation). Bob Perry has been a fixture of GOP fundraising in Texas and nationally dating back to former President George W. Bush's Texas gubernatorial races in the mid-1990s. Perry was a top Bush presidential "bundler" and also gave big to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth campaign in 2004, donating $4.4 million to the effort to discredit Kerry.

No. 4: Robert Rowling, 58, head of Dallas-based TRT Holdings.

Total: $4.1 million

Rowling has given at least $4.1 million to Republican Party and candidates this election. Most of his donations, $4 million, went to Rove's American Crossroads, both through personal donations and through his firm. Rowling also has given $100,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC. Rowling's holdings are worth an estimated $4.8 billion and include Omni Hotels, Gold's Gym and Tana Exploration, his family's oil company. Rowling once told the Texas Tribune he prefers political donations to lobbying efforts. Rowling has been a big donor in Texas political circles, winning a role for Omni as operator of Dallas' convention center hotel after a 2009 city referendum fight.

No. 5: William Koch, 72, an industrialist whose South Florida-based energy and mining conglomerate is worth an estimated $4 billion.

Total: $3 million

Koch has given $3 million to the Restore Our Future, including a $250,000 personal donation and $2.75 million through his corporation, Oxbow Carbon LLC, and a subsidiary, Huron Carbon. Unlike his brothers, Charles and David Koch, who are longtime supporters of Republican and conservative causes, Bill Koch has funded both GOP and Democratic Party candidates in the past. Koch's corporate interests have repeatedly battled against what company officials have decried as government interference. Oxbow spent $570,000 last year on lobbying in Washington, mostly aimed at mining, safety issues and climate change. The company has complained in federal filings about government delays on permits and has raised concerns about administration changes in regulations that would aid collective bargaining. Koch also has pushed for approval of the Central Rockies Land Exchange, a proposed swap of land tracts in Colorado and Utah to enlarge his 4,500-acre Bear Ranch. The proposal, which requires congressional approval, has sparked local opposition.

METHODOLOGY

These rankings by The Associated Press, based on campaign financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission, include contributions to super PACs, presidential campaigns, political parties and joint-fundraising committees. Federal law limits maximum contributions to campaigns, parties and affiliated committees, but federal court rulings have stripped away such limits to super PACs. This analysis excludes secret-but-legal contributions that might have been made to nonprofit groups, which can pay for so-called issue ads that don't explicitly advocate for or against a candidate. Such groups are not required to identify their donors.

Where available, the analysis considered donations "bundled," or raised, from other wealthy donors for Romney and President Barack Obama. Obama periodically identifies his bundlers, although Romney has resisted calls to do the same.

Asian American vote could swing tight elections

LOS ANGELES – The Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), determined that more Asian Americans are voting than ever before.

In a paper entitled Asian Americans at the Ballot Box: The 2008 General Elections in Los Angeles County, the APALC said that the number of Asian Americans voting in the elections climbed steadily in the past 10 years. In LA County alone, a record total of 283,000 Asian Americans cast their votes in the 2008 elections.

In an election that might turn out to be a tight race to the finish, different ethnic voter groups, like the Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI), might just swing the tide and win the presidential seat for either President Barack Obama or Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

An increase in efforts to reach out to these AAPI groups could prove to be the shot in the arm that would power either candidate to victory, come November.

AAPI population could turn the tide.

An argument for the AAPI population could be made, in the sense that their growing numbers have reached “tipping-point” population levels in battleground or swing states, according to a report by NBC’s Richard Lui.

In Lui’s report on NBCNews.com, he used Florida as an example, a state where AAPIs are 3 percent of the total population, according to information from the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. It’s a relatively small number but Obama won Florida in 2008 by only 2.5 percentage points.

Likewise, in Nevada, where AAPIs are only 9 percent; Obama won by 12.4 percentage points. In Virginia, where the Asian Americans number to around 7 percent, Obama won by only 6.3 percentage points.

Lui laid out another perspective with which we could examine the impact of the growing AAPI population in the election. In the nine battleground states covered by NBC News in 2008, Obama won by a popular margin of victory of almost 1.6 million votes.

The Asian American population in those states in 2010, said Lui, was pegged at 2.3 million. Even after taking out from the equation the AAPIs below 18 years old, or roughly 25% of the 2.3 million,that leaves us with 1.73 million voters – a number that is still larger than Obama’s margin of victory in those crucial states.

These numbers, as explained by Lui, emphasize the fact that the growing numbers of AAPIs in America are capable of delivering the deciding votes in a closely-fought election – which is what the November polls are shaping out to be.

Among the existing and emerging Asian American communities in the country, the number of AAPIs in the US continues to grow. Amounting to nearly 15.5 million people nationwide, Asian Americans comprise 5 percent of the total population.

According to the 2008 population estimates of the US Census Bureau, the largest community of Asian Americans can be found right here in Los Angeles County.

In APALC’s Asian Americans at the Ballot Box paper, it was found that the number of AAPIs voting in both the Presidential and Gubernatorial Elections across the Los Angeles County has steadily increased over the past decade. From 211,181 voters in the year 2000 Elections, an increased number of 293,043 Asian Americans cast their votes in the 2008 Elections.

Fil-Ams show significant degree of involvement

APALC noted in their paper that Filipino-Americans, the second largest Asian American electorate in LA County, voted in large numbers in cities across the county -- including Los Angeles, Carson, and Long Beach.

The LA County Voter File from the LA County Registrar of Voters note that of the 293,043 Asian Americans who cast their ballots in the 2008 General Elections, 24 percent of that are Filipinos – second only to the Chinese who made up 29 percent of the voters.

This high degree of voter turnout among Pinoys is pegged at 76 percent, a number that closely matches the turnout of all registered in the county, which is at 78 percent.

Among all Asian American communities, Filipinos were rated as the most politically involved segment of the AAPI population in LA County during the 2008 Elections. Following second are the Asian Indians, with 75 percent of their number casting votes. The turnout rate for the entire Asian community in LA County is rated at 71 percent.

Given these numbers, Mee Moua of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice in Washington, D.C. said in an interview with NBCNews.com that Asian Americans need to be closely considered by the candidates for the upcoming elections.

“As we head toward election day, candidates and political parties will step up their voter engagement efforts,” Moua told NBCNews.com, “Those who want to succeed will recognize the importance of the Asian American voter. Those who ignore us, do so at their own peril.”

.......MICO LETARGO/ASIAN JOURNAL, LA WEEKEND OCTOBER 13-16, 2012

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