Rendell, Corzine back fund effort for revotes

Govs. Rendell and Corzine are ready to help raise money for new Florida and Michigan Democratic Party primaries.

The Pennsylvania governor said the two would help raise half the $30 million needed to hold new elections in those states, which have a potential 313 total delegates.

"And given all the money that the Obama campaign and the Clinton campaign are spending, I think they can dig in, and their supporters can dig in, to their pockets and help the states of Michigan and Florida have a revote," Rendell said Sunday on Meet the Press.

Both governors support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is in a tight race with Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton won the Florida and Michigan contests, but the national Democratic Party stripped the states of their delegates because they had scheduled their primaries earlier than allowed. No candidates campaigned in those states, and Obama's name did not even appear on the Michigan ballot.

Now the race is so close that those 313 delegates really matter, and the Democratic National Committee would like a revote for the two states. But the national and state parties have not agreed to pay the full tab.

Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said yesterday that the New Jersey governor believed "it certainly doesn't make sense to disenfranchise two of our larger states." But it also does not make sense to have taxpayers foot the bill, he said.

Since both governors have "considerable experience in national fund-raising," Gardner said, they are willing to help get the ball rolling.

- Staff and wire reports

PHOENIX - Sen. John McCain, less than a week after securing the Republican nomination, set out yesterday on a nationwide fund-raising drive aimed at restocking his campaign coffers.

Before the trip, he took time out for a full medical screening. While McCain has previously been treated for skin cancer, he said that nothing precipitated his checkup. He said his dermatologist also had performed a cancer screening in the last few weeks. "Everything's fine," he said after yesterday's screening.

McCain started his fund-raising in St. Louis and will continue today in New York, tomorrow in Boston, and through Friday in other unannounced cities. He will reach out to the GOP faithful, seeking their dollars, but it is an uphill climb. The Democratic candidates have easily outpaced him, with Barack Obama raising $55 million in February and Hillary Rodham Clinton collecting $35 million.

An invitation to McCain's event tomorrow night at the Taj Boston hotel is fairly typical: A donation of $2,300 - the maximum allowable per person for each primary and general-election campaign - is required for a private reception with McCain. A half-hour later, the tab drops to $1,000 a person for a more widely accessible reception. - AP

WASHINGTON - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday joined Republican John McCain and a small band of GOP senators in making a run this week against the billions of dollars in home-state projects Congress funds each year.

Obama was the first to declare through a spokesman yesterday that he would support a one-year moratorium on so-called earmarks when the proposal comes up for a vote this week. Clinton followed shortly afterward, through a spokesman.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had signaled privately to fellow Democrats that she supported an election-year break from earmarks - the term lawmakers use for the pet projects they slip into must-pass legislation - as she followed the lead of House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R., Ohio).

Obama joined with other lawmakers last year to obtain almost $100 million of earmarks for Illinois. Clinton worked with others to win $342 million in pet projects for New York. McCain has fought - and lost - many battles over earmarks before, but his new status has longtime rivals in his party rethinking their positions. - AP