Clinton Follows California Money Trail

After a brief private interlude with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter, Chelsea, a Stanford University sophomore, President Clinton continued his campaign fund-raising swing through California on Saturday.

Clinton attended a $10,000-per-couple afternoon fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee in Rancho Santa Fe that was hosted by Bill Lerach, a high-powered San Diego lawyer who has sparred in court and at the ballot box with California’s equally high-powered high-tech industry.

Clinton’s motorcade encountered scores of demonstrators on the way into San Diego. One group, of perhaps 100 people, waved signs including “Jail to the Chief” and “Visualize Impeachment.”

Signs at other spots along the way said “Leave Him Alone” and declared support for the president.

The private fund-raiser was expected to raise at least $400,000. On Friday, Clinton netted $650,000 for the DNC at a San Jose fund-raiser hosted by Silicon Valley executives.

Lerach is known for lawsuits accusing businesses of misleading investors. In 1996, California’s technology industry spent millions defeating a Lerach-backed ballot initiative to make it easier to pursue securities fraud lawsuits in state courts.

Venture capitalist John Doerr, who organized the Silicon Valley event, said one of the key Clinton positions that attracts high-tech leaders is his support for “a bill to allow us to communicate with our investors without Securities and Exchange Commission implications,” precisely the kind of protection that Lerach and his allies try to break down.

Later Saturday, Clinton was to attend a fund-raiser and Democratic Party “Unity Dinner” in Los Angeles. Gubernatorial candidate Gray Davis and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) were expected to attend. These and other candidates for state and congressional office are delicately weighing the risks and rewards of appearing with Clinton in the midst of the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal and a possible House impeachment inquiry.

Davis, in explaining why he chose to join Clinton, offered the surreal spectacle of accepting a president’s fund-raising largess on the one hand while contemplating impeachment action on the other.

Clinton “is entitled to deference and respect,” Davis said. But he added, “The president’s conduct is morally indefensible, wrong and an embarrassment to all of us.” He said the constitutional process, including consideration of impeachment, must be allowed to run its course.

The California Republican Party had no problem with Saturday’s presidential itinerary.

“Every single time Barbara Boxer and Gray Davis appear with Clinton, it reminds those voters who are embarrassed about their votes for Clinton,” State Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder said.