Clintons Leading Kerry $$ Drive

(CBS/AP)  Former President Clinton, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Democratic congressional leaders are trying to raise $10 million for presidential nominee-to-be John Kerry in 10 days.

The former president, taking up his longtime role as the Democrats' fund-raiser-in-chief, sent prospective donors an e-mail Tuesday urging them to help meet the online fund-raising goal. Kerry's campaign raised $10 million over the Internet in 10 days after he locked up the Democratic nomination March 2.

"You and I have made history together before," Mr. Clinton wrote. "It's time to make some more."

He urged Democrats to contribute in order "to demonstrate that, in 2004, we're not going to yield an inch to the Republican attack machine when it comes to defining what this campaign is all about."

The Internet money drive will lead into a 20-city fund-raising tour by Kerry that he hopes will raise $15 million to $20 million by early May. Kerry's fund-raisers start March 29 with a two-day swing through California.

In addition to the Clintons, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and several former Democratic presidential hopefuls plan to take part in the online fund-raising drive, the campaign said.

Kerry is trying to raise $80 million this year to counter record fund raising by President Bush, who has taken in more than $163 million so far for his re-election effort.

If Kerry meets his goal, he will have raised a Democratic record of roughly $105 million for his campaign from January 2003 to the party's nominating convention this summer. That's about the same as the then-record sum Mr. Bush raised for his 2000 campaign and has already surpassed.

The Kerry effort is just one part of Democrats' fund-raising push for this fall's elections.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee held a fund-raiser at a Washington steakhouse on Tuesday evening that it hoped would raise $2 million and help reduce House Republicans' multimillion-dollar fund-raising advantage.

The Democratic National Committee plans a March 25 fund-raiser in Washington that will also celebrate the opening of its renovated headquarters. Kerry and former Presidents Clinton and Carter are among those expected to headline the event.