Monday, July 24, 2006 | 7:16 a.m.
As the American Express commercial says, and Sen. Harry Reid well knows, membership does have its privileges.
The top elected Democratic official in Washington, Reid has amassed a substantial war chest for his Searchlight Leadership Fund - a largesse he is doling out generously to his party's congressional candidates in Nevada and beyond.
"The wind is blowing behind Reid's back," says James H. Hershman, a senior fellow at Georgetown's Government Affairs Institute, before giving the senator the ultimate political compliment: "He's a player."
Reid is a top contributor to the three leading Nevada Democrats running for Congress, giving more money this election cycle than ever before to bring them to Washington. And his donations do not stop at the state line.
As Senate minority leader, the veteran Nevada lawmaker is putting his clout to work in key Senate races nationally where Democrats are hoping to win seats this fall.
This is the first election cycle since Reid captured the leadership slot in 2004, and never before has a Nevadan held so lofty a position in Washington. The high-profile perch is unusual for both Reid, a disarmingly low-profile politician, and his home state. While his ascendancy has been building for years, his influence is coming to the front lines in a critical year for Democrats hoping to beat back Republican dominance of Washington.
Hershman, a former campaign strategist, believes Reid's influence will only grow as interest heightens in the midterm elections because "this is supposed to be a Democratic year." Democrats need to win more than a dozen seats in the House and half as many in the Senate to wrest control from Republicans.
Reid's Searchlight PAC has raised and spent more money this election cycle than ever before. So far, it has brought in $1.6 million with six months still to go in the two-year cycle that ends in December. That's more than an eight-fold increase from the $198,000 he raised when he started the PAC in 1998.
Searchlight has given the maximum allowed to Nevada's Democratic Congressional hopefuls - university system Regent Jill Derby, who is running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jim Gibbons; Tessa Hafen, Reid's former press secretary who is trying to unseat Rep. Jon Porter; and Jack Carter, the former president's son, who wants to defeat Republican Sen. John Ensign. Reid's $10,000 for each puts him among their top contributors.
On the national stage, the PAC has given substantially to Democratic candidates in hotly watched Senate races, such as Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee. And his personal campaign fund, Friends for Harry Reid, is the No. 2 donor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, giving $500,000 this cycle.
Two years ago he was among the campaign committee's top five donors, but he did not rank in the top 20 before that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks contributions.
The value of Reid's giving comes not just from the cash but also from the cachet of having the senator's name behind a campaign. It opens doors. It opens checkbooks. It works like a multiplier drawing in a wider swath of big-time donors than a candidate could likely reach on his own.
"As a candidate, particularly a first-time candidate like Tessa Hafen and Jill Derby, it makes their lives a whole lot easier. To raise $10,000 they probably have to make 20 to 50 phone calls to amass that money. He, in one fell swoop, could write them a check," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., says.
Backers, she says, know that "by supporting you they're supporting Reid, and that's what they care about."
Berkley should know. The four-term congresswoman has been a longtime beneficiary of the Reid machine to the point where her seat in a largely Democratic district is considered safe this election.
Reid's Searchlight PAC is no longer a top donor to her campaign, but he helps in other ways. Berkley tells the story of calling Reid after he became minority leader in 2004 to say that she wanted to throw him a party to celebrate.
The benefit was more than money could buy.
"My political capital rose, just by virtue of the fact I was hosting an event for him. People knew my relationship with arguably the most powerful Democrat in the United States. It just elevated me," Berkley recalls, "just by hosting a breakfast at my home."
Congressional leaders started generating their own Political Action Committees over the past decade, since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used his fundraising prowess to wrest party control and launch the 1994 Republican takeover of the House.
Up-and-comers saw a way to carve out new power centers in both houses, where clout had previously been determined primarily by seniority. Now there are more than 200 leadership PACs in Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Senate any time soon, all the better.
"One thing Reid's doing is paving the way for a continuation in his leadership post, in what he hopes would be a majority position," says Christopher J. Deering, chairman of the Political Science Department at George Washington University. "You try to facilitate winning candidates. And to the extent you do, they're appreciative."
Reid's Searchlight PAC hit its stride in the 2000-02 election cycle. That year he raised and spent $1 million, including sending $254,962 to federal campaigns.
That figure pales compared to the current cycle, just as Reid's numbers are overshadowed by top Republicans.
In Nevada, practically half of Porter's top 20 donors are Republican PACs - $10,000 contributions from PACs controlled by House Majority Leader John Boehner, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Whip Roy Blunt and former House Speaker Tom DeLay.
On a lesser scale, Republican Leadership PACs have given to GOP candidates in the primary for Republican Jim Gibbons' House seat. Even Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is in the action. His Battle Born PAC has given $68,000 to Congressional candidates this cycle - mostly to Senate candidates Reid is trying to defeat.
Carter, who is trying to unseat Ensign, knows the power of Reid's influence. Even with his own famous father, he needs the Nevada senator's backing.
"Certainly he could break a campaign. If he didn't want me to win, I don't think I could muster the support in the Democratic Party," Carter says. "In Sen. Reid's case he has a broad reach that is significantly more than the amount of money he gives."
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