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Sep 4, 2008 3:44 pm US/Central
McCain Lands Powerful Friends In North Texas
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Senator John McCain may be considered a moderate, but he is drawing a wealth of conservative financial support in North Texas.
"In Dallas, there is a group of donors who are always active, whether it's the presidential race or the congressional races around the country," said Jonathan Neerman, chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party.
Those donors include former Cowboy greats Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach. Tom Hicks, the owner of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, is also on that list. Former Southwest Airlines Chairman Herb Kelleher and Fort Worth Billionaire Sid Bass are also McCain supporters.
But just like you and me, these power brokers can only donate a maximum of $2,300 to a candidate. That's once for the primary and once for the general election. But what they can and are doing is using their high-profile names for fund raising.
Even with all that support, Senator Barack Obama has still raised more money in North Texas than Senator McCain.
"Early on in Texas, especially in North Texas, a lot of the major fund raisers where behind either Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney," said Neerman. "So all the money that Senator McCain has raised has come since January"
In Texas, Senator Obama has raised $10.7 million. Senator McCain is behind with $9.7 million. In North Texas, the gap is much closer at $2.9 million for Obama and $2.5 for McCain.
Republican leaders say that after McCain announced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running-mate, the McCain campaign raised $9 million in one day.
Republicans hope that Gov. Palin convention speech will draw even more donors out of hiding; especially women. The McCain campaign is also counting on the big oil companies. The industry typically backs republicans, but according to political analyst John Weekley, Obama has been doing surprisingly well with oil companies. However, support of off-shore drilling by McCain is likely to change that.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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