The Washington Post is calling Gephardt out over AJHPV, and well they should:
The machinists union endorses Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). The machinists union makes a "significant" contribution to Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values (AJHPV), according to union political director Richard Michalski. The same AJHPV, a new organization, runs television ads in Iowa and elsewhere attacking former Vermont governor Howard Dean. Mr. Dean is Mr. Gephardt's leading rival for votes in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
With us so far? Then continue: Leo Hindery, a cable television executive, is a national finance co-chair of the Gephardt campaign. Mr. Hindery is also a backer of AJHPV. The organization's chief fundraiser is a former Gephardt fundraiser, David Jones. Its president, Edward F. Feighan, a former Ohio congressman, has given the maximum $2,000 to the Gephardt campaign.
Is a picture beginning to emerge?
If so, it's not a pretty one, at least as it pertains to Mr. Gephardt, an ostensible supporter of campaign finance reform
The WaPo calls for Gep to ask for AJHPV supporters to come clean, but here's Mr. "Say One Thing Do Another" on campaign finance reform:
Asked in an interview last week whether he would urge the group to reveal its donors, Mr. Gephardt demurred. "I guess this is the world we're in," he said resignedly. "I can't make them do it."
WaPo concludes, "Mr. Gephardt was a moving force behind campaign finance reform. His lack of interest in the subject now is telling."
Couldn't have said it better myself.