Celebrity Liberals Target Tom DeLay

Hollywood celebrities, along with top corporate executives, are coughing up big bucks to help former Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, defeat Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, in the 2006 Congressional election.

Thanks to his recent troubles and loss of his leadership post, DeLay is seen by Democrats as vulnerable in this year's election.

According to politicalmoneyline.com, which keeps an eye on political funding, screenwriter and producer Norman Lear - founder of the far-left People for the American Way - actor and director Rob Reiner, Barbara Streisand and musician Don Henley have contributed to Lampson's campaign. Reiner and Streisand kicked-in $1,000 apiece, while Lear and Henley giving Lampson $4,200.

Corporate bigwigs have also weighed in, sending Lampson hefty contributions. The Hill newspaper reports that Andrew Rappaport, a major investor and philanthropist, and his wife, Deborah, donated $2,100 each while Lawrence Tesler, CEO of Yahoo; Arnold Hiatt, CEO of the Stride Rite Foundation; and Richard Thalheimer, CEO of the Sharper Image; and George Zimmer, CEO of Men's Wearhouse, all sent $1,000 checks to Lampson.

The Hill also reported that former office holders, such as Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., have added their respective clout. Daschle, now a top lobbyist, sent $10,000 from his leftover campaign chest to Lampson, and Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., and Rep. John LaFalce, D-N.Y., each sending $1,000 checks. President Clinton's first chief of staff, Mack McClarty, gave $500.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., have contributed $10,000 each from their leadership PACs, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has donated $5,000.

According to politicalmoneyline.com Lampson has $1.3 million in his campaign kitty available for his fight against DeLay. Over 500 Texans have given to Lampson, and almost half that number of donors - 450 - live in California, New York, Illinois, Oregon and Massachusetts.

DeLay has raised his share of non-Texas money as well, with more than 400 donors living in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and New York.

With the Texas primary scheduled March 7, the latest campaign-finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 15 showed that Lampson's in-state fund raising picked up.

DeLay campaign spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty told the Hill that Lampson's fund raising is "anemic in the 22nd District, lackluster in Texas, and is a shameful display of the liberal elite nationwide."

Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise told the Hill "That's a presumption that the DeLay campaign is trying to push because they have no answer for the legacy of debt and neglect of the district."