Kennedys Raise Campaign Funds in Exotic Locales

When candidates running for federal office raise funds out of state, most often they head to the financial centers of the country.

But some local politicians prefer to try their luck somewhere else: in the hottest resorts and gaming towns of the Americas.

For U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Brighton) and U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56 (D-Mass), the jackpot seems to lie in Las Vegas and Puerto Rico, where cocktail parties and hotel-hopping this year have helped to fatten their campaign piggy-banks.

While Sen. Kennedy targeted donors in the gambling capital of the U.S. to raise four percent of his $939,070 in earnings for this year's first quarter, Rep. Kennedy hit the Puerto Rico coast, collecting more than 28 percent of his cumulative $115,230 in the same period, according to campaign finance reports released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

As of April 15, the most recent disclosure of campaign finance records, Sen. Kennedy had $2,793,836 total on hand, and Rep. Kennedy had $581,400.

At just one dinner party last February with prominent physicians and casino-owners in Law Vegas' Spago's Restaurant, Sen. Kennedy, who is facing re-election for the sixth time, raked in $40,000.

And in a strikingly similar event--also with local physicians and other professionals--at the Hyatt Regency Cerromar in Puerto Rico, Rep. Kennedy, who is seeking his fifth term, was dealt more than $32,400 in contributions.

Despite the festive fund-raisers, however the donors' generosity did not often depend on the appeal of the politicians platforms. What drew the money from these contributors was the Kennedy name.

"The more famous individuals are capable of raising money all over," says Ian H. Stirton, a public affairs specialist at the Federal Election Commission.

James E. Nave a Las Vegas veterinarian who attended Sen. Kennedy's fund-raiser, says that though he does not agree with Kennedy's views-especially on health care--he enjoyed meeting a Kennedy in person.

And it must have been quite a meeting. Despite his disagreements with Kennedy, Nave contributed $1,000 to his re-election campaign, according to FEC records.

"I have admired and adored the Kennedy family since I was 16 years old", Nave says. "They have given so much to this country."

"I don't necessarily share any particular one of his views," adds Nave. "But I believe he's a great voice that needs to be heard."

Although a USA Today article in April indicated that casino executives were paying large sums of money to political candidates in order to prevent the passage of a four percent federal tax on casino revenues many Las Vegas entrepreneurs interviewed say they were not lobbying Sen. Kennedy on this issue.

And since Gov. William F. Weld '66 announced last week that he has abandoned his plans to bring casinos to Massachusetts, legalized gambling-which has been a controversial issue in Massachusetts this year--is no longer a hot issue in this year's campaign.

Cocktails and Cash

The senator's Las Vegas event was co-sponsored by Dr. Elias F. Ghannem, A prominent local physician, and Sloan, vice president and general counsel for Circus Circus, a company which operates several hotels and casinos.

The evening began for the senator and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, with cocktails at Ghannem's home followed by dinner at Spago's restaurant.

"He's one of about 40 people that I have sponsored fundraisers for--there's circuit of fundraisers across America," Sloan says "We discuss issues that relate to national politics."

But casino executive Sloan says legalized gambling was not one of those issues discussed that night.

Rather, Sloan says he and Ghannem brought together a group of primarily medical doctors to discuss health care.

"[Sen. Kennedy] visited with members of the health community and prominent Democrats," Sloan says. "He's a person with a tremendous amount of input on health care."

Sloan and his wife each contributed $2,000 to the Senator's campaign fund, according to FEC reports.

While many of the doctors at the fundraiser do not agree with Kennedy's approach to health care, Sloan says the event enabled the doctors and Kennedy to exchange opinions.

"Health care positions are a moving target," Sloan says. "The purpose is to have [elected officials] explain their views and have them hear our points a well."

Kennedy is sponsoring a modified version of President Clinton's proposal to guarantee health insurance coverage to all United States citizens. At present, Kennedys' bill is considered more likely than Clinton's to be passed by the Congress.

Like Uncle, Like Nephew

More than 3,000 miles away, in Cerromar, Puerto Rico, Sen. Kennedy's nephew, U.S. Rep. Kennedy also visited a similar curious crowd of physicians, lawyers and other professionals.

Dr. Richard Machado, executive director for Hospital Hermanos Melendez, says he arranged the fundraiser for Kennedy after he had met the representative in Washington last summer.

Machado, who gave $2,000 to Kennedy's campaign, says he held a cocktail party for the Brighton representative at his house before proceeding to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cerromar for dinner and conversation.

"He was really impressive," Machado recalls. "He's a John [F. Kennedy '40] man with lots of energy, enthusiasm, health and quality to life."

For the representative as for his uncle, the family's widespread reputation has definitely been an asset, even thousands of miles from his home district north of Boston.

Especially in Puerto Rico, Machado says, the lore of the Kennedy name was an important factor to the success of the fundraiser.

"John F. Kennedy was a good friend of Puerto Rico and a good friend to our governor," Machado says. "The [people of the] commonwealth are good friends of the Kennedys."

Pedro A. Santiago, an attorney from Ponce, Puerto Rico, agrees.

"The Kennedy family is wellrespected in Puerto Rico," says Santiago, who contributed $500 to Rep. Kennedy's campaign. "A hundred percent of Puerto Ricans respect and love the Kennedy family."

Because of the his family's reputation on the island, Rep. Kennedy's mere presence--regardless of his campaign platform--elicited widespread support, says Porfirio Bonet, an administrator at Hospital Hermanos Melendez.

"It can be that way with the Kennedy family," says Bonet, who donated $1,000 to Kennedy's campaign fund, according to FEC reports. "I don't know what there is to say about the convention."

But Brian W. O'Connor '78, Rep. Kennedy's district director, says Kennedy has worked hard to develop a relationship with the people of Puerto Rico, independent of his family connections.

"The Kennedy family has long had dealings in Puerto Rico," O'Connor says. "He's visited numerous times and has a lot of friends in that part of the world."

"He has always been very helpful to the Puerto Rico community," Santiago agrees. "He promised to help Puerto Rico to ensure whether [it will achieve] statehood or commonwealth."

Kennedy, the consummate crowd-pleaser, even addressed the audience in Spanish, says Marcelina Santiago, president of Catholic University in Ponce.

"He impressed me in the way he conducted himself," she says. "He was easy with the people, and he did communicate some things in Spanish."

Like her husband Pedro, Santiago also contributed $500 to Kennedy's re-election campaign.

Some Salient Issues

Although some of the Las Vegas physicians disagree with Sen. Kennedy on health care, they concour with the senator on other issues.

And one way the senator dealt with the potential disagreements was simply to avoid controversy.

Dr. Mohammed S. Eftaiha, a Las Vegas pediatrician, says Kennedy skillfully shifted discussion to issues other than health care in order to solicit their support.

"I might disagree with the senator on health care, but I contributed because of his views about the Middle East," says Eftaiha, a Palestinian from Jordan. "He tried to get away from health care by talking about foreign policy."

A large contingent of foreign-born doctors at the Spago's dinner made foreign policy an appropriate topic for the senator, says Eftaiha, who contributed $250 to Kennedy's campaign coffers.

Kennedy also received a substantial amount of financial support from Las Vegas residents who did not attend his fund-raisers.

Robert H. Baldwin, president of Mirage Resorts, a company that operator of several hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, donated $1,000 to Kennedy's fund.

But Baldwin did not go to Spago's and his contribution was "absolutely not" an endorsement for the senator, says Debbie L. Krum, his assistant.

Rather, Krum says "he contributed as a favor, as a friend."

Despite the evident globetrotting of the two Kennedys, O'Connor says Rep. Kennedy spends relatively little time on fundraising.

"For some office holders, fundraising takes an incredible amount of time," O'Connor says. "If a seat is not considered safe, forty to sixty percent of time may be spent in fundraising."