Pot Fan Puts Up Cash To Help Defeat Bush

[SmokeDog420]

Washington -- A chief contributor to a Democratic shadow campaign to defeat President Bush is a 70-year-old marijuana enthusiast who made a fortune selling car insurance to so-so drivers.
Peter Lewis now spends much of his time cruising international waters in a $16 million converted oceangoing tugboat named "The Lone Ranger."

He is also:

• A fitness fanatic who barely slowed his regimen of swimming and weightlifting after losing part of a leg to a circulation ailment.

• A former chief executive who tolerated office romances and admitted indulging in such affairs himself.

• A generous patron with an estimated worth of more than $1 billion whose interests include liberal politics, modern art and his alma mater, Princeton University.

Describing himself to Fortune magazine, Lewis declared, "I'm the best person to have been fired by, or divorced from, that I know."

Lewis, the retired head of the Progressive group of insurance companies, has given about $3 million to America Coming Together and pledged $10 million to the anti-Bush organization, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that studies money in politics.

That makes Lewis a major player in a new political game that allows such independent political groups to solicit unlimited "soft money" political contributions from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

Critics charge that these groups are circumventing campaign finance reforms that stopped political parties from raising and spending soft money. They claim that the groups, often run by veteran Democratic or Republican strategists, take advantage of a loophole in regulations to conduct "shadow" campaigns, filling in with ads and messages when the parties can't afford to.

Reform spawns groups

The growth of these groups started after Congress enacted the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Though the Republicans fought the act, they have had far more success raising the small "hard money" donations from individuals it allows. That has left the Democrats far more reliant on the independent groups.

Through his representatives, Lewis declined to be interviewed for this article. But his donations make his political positions clear.

"His two big issues are getting Bush out of office and regulating marijuana," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, a group dedicated to decriminalizing adult pot use and placing it under regulations. Lewis has given $340,000 to the organization, according to the Center for Responsive Politics



Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Author: Bob Dart, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published: April 14, 2004
Copyright: 2004 Cox Interactive Media
Contact: conedit@ajc.com
Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/