Lieberman donors are not rushing to give to McCain

Only two of John McCain’s post-primary contributions have come from Sen. Joe Lieberman supporters, despite the Connecticut Independent’s strong support of the Republican presidential candidate.

Lieberman endorsed the Arizona Republican at the end of 2007 and has since campaigned vigorously for his Senate colleague. He has attended McCain fundraising events and met with many members of the Jewish political community to contrast the records of McCain and rival Barack Obama, said a McCain adviser.

{mosads}But a review of fundraising records show that McCain has received only two contributions over $200 from Lieberman’s 2006 supporters since Sen. Obama’s (Ill.) triumph in the Democratic primary.

McCain has received significantly more money from donors who gave to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), who has endorsed Obama.

The Federal Election Commission derived the numbers from matching donor names, hometowns and zip codes listed in fundraising reports. It is possible that Lieberman and McCain may have additional donors in common who listed different addresses or names for contributions to each candidate.

Even if a few more Lieberman donors have joined McCain’s cause since Obama became the Democratic standard-bearer, it appears that Lieberman’s pointed critiques of Obama have had limited impact.

Immediately after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, Lieberman criticized the Illinois senator for suggesting that American foreign policy had endangered Israel by sparking tensions with Iran.

Republicans have predicted that Lieberman’s standing as one of America’s most prominent Jewish leaders and his role as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 would spur defections of Jewish donors, who have traditionally supported the Democratic party.

McCain has worked hard to court Republican and Democratic Jewish donors in recent weeks. He held a fundraiser with Jewish donors at the Hyatt Hotel in Washington in early June. Republicans have also recruited Stephen Muss, a major Jewish donor in Florida who once gave an $80,000 contribution to the Democratic Party.

Lieberman said in an interview that he did not know why more of his supporters have not given to McCain since Obama won the Democratic nomination and Lieberman slammed Obama’s speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in early June.

“People who have supported me have called and asked how to help and I’ve plugged them into the campaign,” said Lieberman, who suggested more of his supporters may have joined the McCain camp before Obama’s victory over Clinton.

Lieberman also said that he’s attended several fundraising events for McCain.

“I hope my presence there has helped,” he said.

Republicans are relying on Lieberman to shift the allegiance of Jewish voters and donors, the bulk of whom have favored Democrats in past elections.

Fred Zeidman, co-chairman of Jewish outreach for the McCain campaign, said he still expects Lieberman to be an important advocate for the GOP nominee amongst Jewish donors.

“Who could hope for anything better than him, a man of his integrity and stature?” Zeidman said of Lieberman’s potential impact. “For any Jewish voter to whom Israel is an important issue, there’s no question where the support and dollars should go.”

Zeidman said that the McCain campaign is using Lieberman to reach out to the Jewish community and tell its members what he knows from personal experience about Obama and McCain.

“He’s doing a lot of surrogate work for us,” he said.

Zeidman praised what he called McCain’s record of defending Israel’s national interests and criticized Obama’s statement Wednesday that Israelis and Palestinians should negotiate the future of Jerusalem. Obama said Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel but also said the question should be settled by negotiation between the two sides.

Zeidman said he did not know why so few Lieberman donors gave to McCain last month. He speculated that the campaign may have organized fewer fundraisers with Lieberman.

Jeff Ballabon, a Jewish Republican political consultant, said Lieberman should move more Jewish donors to give to McCain.

“The fact that Joe Lieberman has embraced McCain is likely to resonate among voters for whom the security situation in the Middle East is a front-and-center issue,” said Ballabon, who said he expected a reaction from “Jewish voters and donors and non-Jewish voters for whom the issue of Israel is important.”