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| Rising Conservative Maverick Behind Wright Blitz |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The wealthy executive who considered and then dropped a proposal to revive controversy over the relationship between President Barack Obama and his former pastor is a rising conservative maverick with ties to the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
He's also linked to a ''super'' political action committee that bankrolled an upset in Nebraska's recent Republican Senate primary.
A politically conservative Nebraskan, J. Joseph Ricketts, known as ''Joe,'' built the TD Ameritrade brokerage firm into a billion-dollar empire that backed the purchase of the Cubs as well as interests in film, media, resorts and bison meat products.
Ricketts is a new force in GOP and conservative politics, but it doesn't run in the family: Ricketts' daughter, Laura, is a prominent lesbian activist who is a volunteer fundraiser for Obama.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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