Money From Colleagues Buoys Rangel Campaign
For years, Charles B. Rangel was among the Democratic Party’s most generous colleagues, crisscrossing the country to raise vast sums of money for other House candidates at election time. Now, as Mr. Rangel faces one of the toughest races of his career, he is among the party’s neediest.
With campaign contributions to Mr. Rangel, the Harlem congressman since 1971, dropping precipitously — he barely broke $60,000 over the last three months — his political fate has become a source of concern for colleagues in Washington who are suddenly opening their wallets for him.
More than a dozen Democrats who never donated to Mr. Rangel before, from party leaders to backbenchers, have made out checks to the 81-year-old lawmaker this year, according to the most recent campaign finance disclosure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
In some cases, Mr. Rangel’s camp has made direct requests for help to colleagues, said a senior Democrat, who asked not to be identified, saying he believed it to be a private matter.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/nyregion/rangels-campaign-is-helped-by-colleagues-contributions.html
