Dancing With The Devil - 2

Money drives politics. Nothing new there. The average person really doesn't think too much about that fact except in the abstract. Occasionally, however, we get a glimpse of the murky side of the money equation.

The Democratic Party of Texas has struggled for several years now -- since Republicans took control of state government -- including both the House and Senate. In fact, they have steadily lost ground at the state level. There are some Democratic strongholds around the state, such as the Rio Grande Valley and parts of the larger cities, that continue to send Democrats to Austin and Washington to represent their interests.

One of the difficulties the party has faced in Texas is funding. With the majority of their support in low-income areas, they have struggled with the financial side of intrastate party politics. The national party has injected some funding, but when there are no hotly contested races, that funding is sparse -- until 2005, when Dallas lawyer, Fred Baron, teamed with Matt Angle, a long-time aid to Democratic Representative Martin Frost of Dallas to create the Texas Democratic Trust (TDT). The TDT has since become the primary source of funding for Democratic candidates in state contests.

Now comes the real twist. Baron has been implicated as being involved in John Edwards recent troubles with Rielle Hunter. According to The Austin American Statesman:

"After Edwards admitted last week that he had had an affair with Rielle Hunter when she was his campaign videographer, reports surfaced that Baron had helped Hunter financially. Baron told several media outlets that he had helped Hunter and former Edwards campaign aide Andrew Young, along with Young's family, move to California from North Carolina to escape tabloid reporters and paparazzi. Despite reports in the National Enquirer that Edwards is the father of Hunter's baby, Young has claimed to be the father.

Baron has said that he did not tell Edwards that he helped Hunter and Young, and he has not said how much money he gave them."

The Edwards scandal threatens to taint many of those connected with Baron because of his alleged involvement. One of the candidates who appears to have benefited greatly from the largess of the TDT is Diana Maldonado who is running for the House seat currently occupied by Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Williamson County.

I wonder how much influence $1.9 million can buy? In the same Statesman article:

"Other big donors were skeptical, Baron has said, so he paid for most of the effort himself.

He started the Texas Democratic Trust and gave it $1.9 million in 2005 and 2006, providing more than 80 percent of its funding.

In turn, the group gave about $855,000 to the Texas Democratic Party, $530,000 to the House Democratic Campaign Committee and $360,000 to the Texas Progress Council, an independent research and advocacy group.

Slightly more than half of the money raised by the state party's political action committee in 2005 and 2006 came from the Democratic Trust. Baron's recent donations are unmatched in Texas by anyone in his party."

It certainly makes you stop and think....