Traficant supporters end effort at a presidential run

The Traficant committee admitted it couldn't raise enough money.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The dream is over.
Organizers of the movement to run former U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination from his federal prison cell have thrown in the towel.
In a message sent Wednesday to members of the Traficant 2004 e-mail group and featuring typographical and grammatical errors, organizers of the long-shot campaign said it had ceased operations because of a lack of support.
The committee acknowledged in the message that it wasn't going to meet its stated goal of $100,000 by Wednesday, which would have qualified the campaign for federal matching funds. All contributions are going to be refunded to donors, the message said.
Attempts to reach Marcus Belk, Traficant's campaign spokesman, were not successful.
It is not known how much money the campaign raised. But Belk, of Jersey City, N.J., who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in his former home state of South Carolina, said in August that the committee had raised $10,224 in cash pledges made on Traficant's campaign Web site.
Too little too late
In a message to the e-mail group on Sept. 12, Belk wrote that the committee was well past the halfway point of $50,000, but "many supporters have suddenly realized that our time is running out!"
The committee's Web site -- www.traficant2004.com -- will not be shut down.
On Tuesday, the day before the decision to call it quits, the committee unveiled its campaign slogan: "Jim Traficant is in prison and you are too!"
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 trial of racketeering, bribery and tax evasion. He is serving an eight-year prison sentence.
Draft committee
The Traficant-for-president movement first started as a draft committee among Belk and a few of his friends who were fans of the former bombastic congressman known for his one-minute speeches on the House floor, his outdated suits and bad toupee.
Traficant then gave his endorsement to the committee and signed his name on documents filed with the Federal Election Commission to draft him, even though draft committees are created to select a person to run for political office without his express consent.
Political experts dismissed Traficant's chances of succeeding, pointing to the former congressman's dismal showing last year in the 17th Congressional District race and the fact that he is a federal inmate. Traficant finished last in the three-person congressional race.