Republican Presidential Hopefuls Channeling Bush in Fundraising
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park February 11, 2011 in Washington, DC.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park February 11, 2011 in Washington, DC. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Before they announce their candidacies, plant a yard sign, or rent storefront space in Des Moines, Republican presidential prospects are building high- powered fundraising teams.
Former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, and current Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, are among those enlisting veterans of President George W. Bush’s fundraising teams, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its March 21 issue.
“It’s one of a number of primaries that occur before a single vote is cast,” said former U.S. Representative Bill Paxon of New York, a senior adviser at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP who raised at least $100,000 for former President George W. Bush and is now supporting Barbour should he run. “The most important of those is for the major fundraisers.”
With individual donations capped at $2,500 for the nomination campaign and candidates increasingly unwilling to limit their spending in exchange for federal financing, the importance of “bundlers” who can tap large networks of friends and associates for money has grown.
Bush called his bundlers Pioneers (those raising at least $100,000) and Rangers (at least $200,000). In 2008, Democratic nominee Barack Obama listed 47 people as collecting at least $500,000 apiece for his campaign, and Republican nominee John McCain had 65.
“Money is nothing but voice,” said former Republican National Committee Finance Co-Chairman Mel Sembler, a shopping- center developer in St. Petersburg, Florida. “You can always tell how much support a candidate has by how much money he has raised.”
Iowa Caucuses
With the Feb. 6, 2012, Iowa caucuses less than 11 months away, prospective Republican candidates are courting those who could serve as their Pioneers and Rangers.
“There is a base of hundreds of folks who go back to the Bush campaigns,” Paxon said. “I hear from folks who are being asked to go to Boston or Minneapolis or Biloxi. They’re not going to those cities this time of year for nice weather or a dinner.”
Former Bush Ranger Robert Wood Johnson IV, the New York Jets owner, is backing Romney. So is lobbyist Wayne Berman, another past Ranger. Both raised at least $500,000 in 2008 for McCain, an Arizona U.S. senator. Pawlenty can count on the support of at least two other former Bush fundraisers: William Strong, a Morgan Stanley (MS) managing director, and Warren Staley, the former Cargill Inc. chairman and chief executive officer.
Others are staying neutral for now.
‘Uncomfortable Situation’
“I’m going to keep my powder dry,” said Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler- Distributors. A former Bush Ranger, Van Dongen also raised at least $500,000 for McCain. “It’s a very uncomfortable situation to have to choose among friends,” he said.
At least for now, he can continue to wait. No major Republican candidate has officially declared a presidential candidacy.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia said on March 3 he’s exploring a run and has set up a website for donations. Romney, Pawlenty, Barbour, and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin are among those who have hinted they’ll run.
By postponing announcements, they are able to build war chests through so-called leadership political action committees, which can take in $5,000 per election from individual contributors, twice what a campaign committee can accept per election.
Hiring Staff
While leadership accounts can’t be used in an actual campaign, they allow likely candidates to pay salaries to lock in staff who might later join their campaigns. The arrangement also allows candidates-in-waiting to travel to meet prospective supporters, develop lists of potential donors, and build goodwill by giving money to fellow Republicans.
Obama declared his candidacy early in 2007 and raised almost $26 million in the first three months of that year, instantly transforming him into a front-runner for his party’s nomination. Obama wound up raising a record $745 million and was the first major party nominee to shun public funds for the general election presidential campaign.
In 2012, the president could raise a record-shattering $1 billion, said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group, creating a challenge for any Republican foe.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.
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