Fund Raising

By Viveca Novak/Washington

Democratic congressional candidates were raking in money last year. Not so the Democratic National Committee. The D.N.C.'s year-end finance report at the end of this month will chart about $40 million in donations in 1999--well below the $48 million it rang into its coffers four years earlier. That leaves the party with just $2.5 million in the bank at a crucial time. By late March AL GORE or BILL BRADLEY will emerge victorious but dead broke and dependent on the D.N.C. to carry on the campaign until the August convention, when each party's nominee gets public funding. Meanwhile, likely G.O.P. victor GEORGE W. BUSH will be waging war with his multimillion-dollar stockpile. The dire straits have prompted BILL CLINTON to sign on for a major fund-raising tour in the next few months, party sources tell TIME, headlining at least a dozen events in a bid to raise an additional $40 million in the first quarter. The D.N.C. suffered as Democrats' House and Senate campaign funds hit historic highs: more than $32 million for the House committee, more than $25 million for the Senate one--its best off-year ever. Also, new D.N.C. chair ED RENDELL spent his early weeks planning a fund raiser for his 2002 gubernatorial bid; he was Philadelphia mayor until Jan 1. Ever optimistic, the D.N.C. notes it has no legal fees or campaign debts for the first time since '96.

--By Viveca Novak/Washington