Tony Rezko and Campaign Finance: If He Gave To Bush, Who Didn't He Give To?

George W. Bush, shouldn't you be returning $3.8 million in donations?

If you don't read the Chicago Sun Times and Chicago Tribune closely, you probably don't know the full extent of indicted Chicago businessman Tony Rezko's largesse. Nationally, the media heat has been on Barack Obama because Rezko raised funds for him in the past and purchased property next door to Obama in 2005. Seeking political advantage in the South Carolina Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton decided to fling some mud with a very self-righteous zinger:

"I was fighting against those [Republican] ideas when you were practicing law and representing your contributor, Resco, [sic] in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago."

CNN Transcript

Well, the mud didn't stick, and in fact, it boomeranged. It didn't take NBC long to do some digging, and, sure enough, they turned up an old "grip and grin" photo of donor Rezko posing with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton dismissed it, understandably, but the Today Show's "gotcha" moment, of course, lives on thanks to the internet.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...

Hillary Clinton should know that guys like Rezko don't limit themselves to cultivating one sphere of political influence.

Rezko's reach becomes clear if you do more research. In some local political reporting this week, the Chicago Tribune buried a very interesting donation nugget of news in a piece on embattled Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich's effort to "deflect Rezko heat":

Blagojevich ticked off a list of elected officials who also have ties to the indicted developer. While not naming them, he made reference to everyone from Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to House Speaker Michael Madigan, his political nemesis, and Madigan's daughter, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan.

When asked if he regretted his relationship with Rezko, the governor said he was not alone in facing "some of the occupational hazards that go along with being in politics."

"We presume and hope that people who are helping us are doing things honestly and forthrightly, and then sometimes there are allegations to suggest that maybe not," he said Tuesday following a news conference in downtown Chicago.

"And then you deal with all the incoming that comes along with it, whether you're a governor of a state like Illinois, or a presidential candidate, or an attorney general, or a lieutenant governor, or a speaker of the House or even Republicans who've also been the beneficiaries of some of Mr. Rezko's help."

Rezko has had ties to each of those politicians in some fashion over the years, from a once-close relationship with Obama, a first-term U.S. senator, to co-hosting a $3.8 million Chicago fundraiser in 2003 for President Bush. [Illinois] Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn also received contributions from Rezko's former development company.

Blagojevich tries to deflect Rezko heat to Obama, others (Chicago Tribune)

Say what? Rezko did more for George W. Bush than for any particular Democrat? $3.8 million in one Bush fundraiser? Yep, if we can believe the Tribune or this 2006 Chicago Sun-Times assertion:

Rezko also works both sides of the political fence. He co-chaired a megamillion-dollar fund-raiser for President Bush in 2003 and raised funds for former [Republican] Gov. Jim Edgar.

Michael Sneed: The Rezko scandal . . .

Like so many other political donors, Tony Rezko has spread his largesse around for many years and in many directions. He's a rich man. He's made a habit of cultivating political friends. Corporate donors and lobbyists play the same game, of course.

What does this say about campaign finance and political influence?

John McCain worked hard on reforming campaign finance laws, having been tarnished in the 1980s Keating Five/Savings and Loan scandal. Barack Obama made significant inroads on ethics legislation, too. But isn't it clear that ethics reform and McCain/Feingold didn't go far enough? Don't we need to reform campaign finance from the ground up?

And isn't campaign finance reform the perfect issue to debate in 2008 once both parties have settled on their final nominees?

Rezko's name will remain in the news. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald begins arguing his fraud case in a Chicago courtroom on February 25. So while the presidential campaigns forge ahead, our judicial system will be trying to sort out whether Rezko broke any laws, or just really played the campaign finance system. No matter which way that particular case goes, we know our current campaign system sets the stage for undue influence.

With that in mind, every candidate should be reticent about flinging the campaign finance mud, but very vocal about enacting deep reforms. In presidential politics, which costs so much now, there are Rezko skeletons and convicted felon Hsu donations (totaling $850,000 to the Hillary Clinton campaign, now returned) aplenty in campaign closets. Which harms us all.

Update: Rezko money also went to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is a national co-chair of Hillary Clinton's campaign, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported on February 1, 2008. The Sun-Times listed numerous other recipients in an April, 2007, report.

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