SEATTLE - Former President Bill Clinton repaid Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell for her loyalty in Congress by headlining a fund-raiser Monday, raising more than $300,000 to help Cantwell pay off her campaign debt.
It was Clinton's first fund-raising appearance for an individual politician since he left office. Cantwell lost her U.S. House seat in 1994 after voting for Clinton's budget, which passed the House by only one vote.
"I want to pay a debt to someone who, when it came time to stand up for America's future, even at the cost of her own career, did it," Clinton said. He spoke to about 1,400 starry-eyed Democrats, some of whom watched video screens in an overflow room.
In 2000, Cantwell spent $14 million, much of it her own money, to defeat incumbent Republican Slade Gorton and win a Senate seat. But her high-tech fortune suffered when the stock market dropped, and now she's working overtime to pay off $4 million in loans.
Cantwell supported a campaign finance bill banning soft money that passed in the Senate last year but was derailed in the House. Clinton praised her stand, making the unusual argument that campaign finance reform would make Congress members less tired, and more effective, because they wouldn't have to fly around the country raising money constantly. Cantwell, for instance, planned to take a redeye flight Monday night to return to the Capitol for a hearing on Enron.
"I'm telling you, half the members of Congress, of both parties, are sleep-deprived," Clinton said. "We are wearing these people out."
Cantwell made a point of not accepting political action committee money and soft money from parties during her campaign, pledging she would not be bought by special interests. Soft money donations are unregulated, unlimited contributions made to political parties. The last time Clinton visited Seattle to raise money, during the 2000 campaign, Cantwell didn't accept the money because she wasn't taking party cash.
Since taking office she's enjoyed two Clinton fund-raisers: Monday's event, and a party at Sen. Hillary Clinton's Washington, D.C., home. During the first half of 2001 she also took more money from lobbyists - $50,000 - than any other Congress member, according to a review by the Center for Responsive Politics.
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