PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN Traficant has given OK for exploratory panel, supporter says

The group says it has raised more than $10,000 in pledges.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
Former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. has given a group of his supporters permission from prison to form a presidential exploratory committee, the campaign spokesman said.
"The battle to free James Traficant and to evict the Socialists and 'free traders' from the Democratic Party is now under way," campaign spokesman Marcus Belk said. "Someone buy the Washington establishment a bottle of Maalox."
Traficant is serving an eight-year prison sentence for bribery, racketeering and tax evasion. He has spent the past year at the minimum-security Allenwood federal prison in White Deer, Pa.
Belk, of Jersey City, N.J., said the group, which announced Friday that it had gotten Traficant's approval, has raised $10,224 in cash pledges made on Traficant's campaign Web site. The average contribution was $71, he said.
Once a campaign committee raises or spends more than $5,000, it is required to file a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission. Belk said the campaign had mailed that form to the FEC on Friday; it had not yet been received by the commission. Traficant's group filed a signed "Statement of Candidacy" form with the FEC last week, signed by Traficant.
Pros' assessment
Political experts say it is nearly impossible for a Traficant-for-president campaign to succeed. Belk said the campaign hopes to meet its goal of raising $100,000 to qualify for federal matching funds by Oct. 1, which is when he expects Traficant to formally announce his presidential candidacy.
Traficant, who represented the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House for 171/2 years, was expelled in July 2002 after being convicted in a federal court of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.
Traficant ran for the presidency in 1988, but the effort failed miserably.