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Thursday, June 22, 2006



New Republic Kisses Gore's Butt; Omits Peretz Donations


I suppose the New Republic's editor in chief Martin Peretz deserves credit for disclosing his past financial support of Sen. Joe Biden in his essay today nominating Al Gore to be the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, but Peretz gets a few demerits for not disclosing his donations to Gore.
Pundits and political activists know Peretz and Gore have been pals for years, and the former vice president and the New Republic have long enjoyed a mutually supportive relationship. Nothing wrong with that, in my book.

So would it be so terrible for Peretz to have disclosed in his column that he's given a total of $16,250 over the years to Gore and his PACs?

Data about Peretz donations from the PoliticalMoneyLine:

GORE 2000 INC
$1,000
03/31/99

GORE/LIEBERMAN GENERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNTING COMPLIANCE FUND
$1,000
03/31/99

LEADERSHIP '02
(FKA FRIENDS OF ALBERT GORE JR INC)
$5,000
07/31/98

LEADERSHIP '02
(FKA FRIENDS OF ALBERT GORE JR INC)
$5,000
12/05/01

LEADERSHIP '02
(FKA FRIENDS OF ALBERT GORE JR INC)
$4,250
09/30/02

To be fair, Peretz has also made contributions to dozens of Democratic candidates and PACs, and he's also made a donation or two to GOP politicians. And sure, Peretz is well-known in some circles as a journalist and publisher who also writes checks out to candidates he likes.

However, I believe he owes readers full disclosure and total transparency about his donations, especially to Gore when he's smooching his derriere.

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