Michelle Malkin profiles Jerry Perenchio, a National Finance Co-Chair of the McCain 2008 campaign and the billionaire founder of Spanish-language media conglomerate, Univision. MM notes that Perenchio funded the opposition to California’s Prop. 227, which dismantled “bilingual education,†as well as the opposition to Prop. 187, the measure banning social services to illegal aliens.
She also notes in passing that before jumping ship to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign, he was the largest individual donor to then-Gov. Gray Davis, and has bankrolled New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, writing that Perenchio “plays both sides.”
MM may not know how right she is.
Courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics, anyone with Internet access can quickly discover that Perenchio (in addition to his donations to the GOP and its candidates) gave money to the DNC, DCCC and DSCC throughout the 1990s — a period during which he also gave his money to Pres. Bill Clinton, Sens. Max Baucus (D-MT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Tom Daschle (D-SD) Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Bob Kerrey (D-NE), John Kerry (D-MA), Joe Lieberman (D-CT), George Mitchell (D-ME), Harry Reid (D-NV), and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), as well as Reps. Xaiver Becerra (D-CA), Howard Berman (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Jose Serrano (D-NY), Esteban Torres (D-CA) and Alan Wheat (D-MO). He supported Harvey Democrat Gantt in his second run against Sen. Jesse Helms. In 1999, he gave to Bill Bradley and then-Veep Al Gore, Jr.
More recently, Perenchio has funded Reps. Dick Gephardt (D-MO), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), while continuing to give to Baucus, Feinstein, Becerra and Berman.  This McCain co-chair gave to the Democratic Party of Arizona.
Perhaps these donations can be explained away as advancing Perenchio’s business interests in various ways. Yet McCain would still be left having to explain how Perenchio’s position in his campaign squares with McCain’s public image as a straight-talking campaign-finance reformer.
Update: To underscore that last point, please note (as MM and Captain’s Quarters have) that McCain and Perenchio have a bit of history:
Just about a year and a half ago, Sen. John McCain went to court to try to curtail the influence of a group to which A. Jerrold Perenchio gave $9 million, saying it was trying to “evade and violate†new campaign laws with voter ads ahead of the midterm elections.
As McCain launches his own presidential campaign, however, he is counting on Perenchio, the founder of the Univision Spanish-language media empire, to raise millions of dollars as co-chairman of the Arizona Republican’s national finance committee.
Because of the… you know.
Curiouser and curiouser…
easy, Karl, he’s showing he can work across party lines.
“…in addition to his donations to the GOP and its candidates…”
Let’s see, there’s George Bush, David Dreier, Rick Santorum, Jon Kyl, John Thune, Norm Coleman, Mitch McConnell, Orrin Hatch, Dennis Hastert, Jim Talent, Arlen Specter, Lincoln Chafee. Limiting it only to the 2008 cycle shows Perenchio has not donated to a single Democrat.
And for whatever reason the donation of $1,000 to the Democratic Party of AZ was returned.
Now I know what McCain was scheming for over 5-years while being tortured sitting in a VC jungle prison. Machiavellian McCain was plotting a campaign finance game of three card monty!
And to pull it all off McCain had to become a Senator and then run for President all as a decoy to hide his true subversive campaign-finance motivations!
You are so on to him now.
[…] Update: Karl at Protein Wisdom compiles a long list of Jerry Perenchio’s Democrat beneficiaries. […]
McCain won’t have to explain anything. His “maverick” status (read plays nice with Democrats) will do all the talking that is needed.
Once again we are being treated to yet another hit on John McCain. A. Jerrold “Jerry” Perenchio and his wife, Margaret have been long time supporters of THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, having donated well over half a million dollars to the GOP over the years. He is also one of the top contributors to the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over the years he has donated something like $1.8 million in soft money,mostly to Republican causes. Funny how that information was left out of Ms Malkin’s commentary above.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
yeah, the better tack might be showing how much he’s given to 527’s. he gave more than Soros (as an individual) in the 2006 election cycle.
I wouldn’t call donating to Arnold, donating to a Republican buddy.
Brainster,
Has McCain been a campaign finance reformer just in this cycle? And of course Perenchio has given to the GOP — not only did I mention it, you would expect that of a finance chair for a GOP candidate. The issue is what Perenchio’s history of giving to the Dems says about where Perenchio and McCain are coming from, particularly if the explanation is that it was advancing Perenchio’s business interests.
SJR,
MM qouted from Perenchio’s bio:
So your claim seems very much like an attempt to dodge the issues that MM is raising.
thor,
Frankly, I expected better from you. Please put the strawman back in the cornfield, where it might be useful.
Upon reflection, perhaps I should not have expected better. One of the things that has always puzzled me about McCain is how someone so heroic as a POW — refusing early release, etc. — could have such thin skin with regards to political disagreement or criticism. It is one of the personal characteristics that alienates him from conservatives who might otherwise have cut him slack. Perhaps McCain’s supporters will exhibit the same thin skin, though they would be better advised not to.
I suppose the proper comparative might be Keating. I’d say Perenchio marks a definite step up for McCain.
Rick,
Likely so. Of course, the Keating Five near-death experience (which I thought a mostly bad rap in his case, mostly being thrown in to make the scandal bipartisan) was what transformed McCain into Mr. Clean. In reality, he continues to work the system like most everyone else — when he isn’t busy trying to suppress free speech with incumbent protection legislation. Perenchio is merely symbolic of that reality.
Sure he did, Thor. At least sort of. Hard to destroy the First Amendment quite so effectively as, say, city dogcatcher somewhere.
I heard someone say recently that there are only two parties in Washington, the monied party and everyone else. I think it’s a tad too cynical for even me, but I note that Senator Rockerfeller really started to campaign hard for telecom immunity after AT&T’s PAC began donating heavily to him. [In that comment is criticism of the alleged quid pro quo, not a criticism of telecom immunity].
As Mr. Perenchio shows, influencing Congress is not a partisan game…..remembering the netroot uproar over Murdoch’s Hillary fund raiser…
When is the last time someone passed a campaign finance reform law that didn’t aide and protect the incumbents?
That is what I thought.
Karl –
Sweet work, as usual, sir.
It’s finally peeking through the clouds that Ol’ Romney is actually looking better as the days go by – at least as far as stuff like delegate numbers go.
We all know, of course, the real meausure of the Republican race is which maver… uh, candidate, is liked best by the New York Times.
I can vote for Romney. I am not sure of his conservative bonafides. Matter of fact, I’m SURE he’s not quite the candidate I would prefer to vote for. But I know he can fix a bum organization.
And “bum” is generous when directed at the Feds….
More importantly, I know he’s got more smarts and ethics in one of his cufflinks than the entire Dem caucus in DC, and that will have to do for now.
Tim,
If your first choice is on the ballot where you are, that’s still the person to vote for. Don’t let the media steer you to a second or third choice in search of a winning horse, unless your state is a winner take all delegates, state.
When the candidates can’t reach the magic number, then they have to compromise and listen. A non-winner who still has a few hundred delegates, can still make an impact.
I should note that anyone who goes through my past posts will find that I have not spared Romney, either. I’ll get around to who I could vote for later.
At least Jerry Perenchio doesn’t play left-out in your field of dreams. He’d have straw sticking out of his glove if he did. Cause, see, he’s a strawman, left fielder, occasional pinch runner, called up to the bigs by who knows, the manager, maybe.
I’m not given to confusing connect-the-dot metaphor-filled conspiratorial smear jobs. If McCain hired an experienced money raiser to raise money for his campaign, I hardly see the irony in that, even as author of McCain-Feingold, which nobody, much less the FEC, pays attention to anymore outside of McCain-haters, McCain is allowed to legally raise money without being unfairly smeared for doing so.
Can’t we allow a fine American a flyball’s chance, huh?
[…] Update: Karl at Protein Wisdom compiles a long list of Jerry Perenchio’s Democrat beneficiaries. […]