Anche grandi donatori, siedono al tavolo raccolta fondi per Obama
Obama contro McCain – La battaglia elettorale in America è la più costosa di tutti i tempi
● Obama mette spesso in risalto le donazioni fino a $200, …, ma i registri rivelano che 1/3 del sostegno finanziario viene da donazioni di $1000 o più, per un totale di $112 mn. (agosto), per una quota maggiore di quella di MacCain e della Clinton.
o Obama si è impegnato a non accettare donazioni da lobbisti o comitati di azione politica registrati, ma alcuni maggiori donatori hanno le loro agende politiche … come gli executive degli hedge fund (Kenneth Griffin, ad esempio del Citadel Investment Group di Chicago, ha raccolto oltre $50mila; ha registrato nel 2007 un reddito di $1,5 MD; ha ugualmente finanziato nel passato i repubblicani, di recente ha aiutato un procacciatore per McCain). Dal 2007, Citadel ha speso oltre $1,1 mn nella lobby contro l’aumento delle imposte per i profitti da hedge fund. (Obama ha appoggiato l’aumento delle imposte).
o Anche Paul Tudor Joines, manager degli hedge fund, ha raccolto oltre $100mila per Obama, na anche per McCain, Rudolph giuliani e Mitt Romney. Jones ha aiutato con oltre $900mila nell’ultimo decennio i candidati federali e organizzazioni politiche … , ha contribuito alla creazione di un’associazione contro la regolamentazione degli hedge fund.
o Dietro alle maggiori donazioni ci sono oltre 500 procacciatori, ognuno ha raccolto mediamente 50mila $;
o circa 3 dozzine di procacciatori hanno raccolto ognuno oltre $500mila; tra questi una mezza dozzina che ha superato il $1mn. e uno o due i $2mn.;
o molti dei procacciatori vengono da industrie di importanza critica.
● Circa 2/3 dei procacciatori è concentrato in 4 settori principali: legge, assicurazioni e investimenti, immobiliare e divertimento. Gli studi legali sono i gruppo maggiore, circa 130, e lavorano per imprese che svolgono a loro volta attività di lobbying.
o Almeno 100 procacciatori di Obama sono alti dirigenti o broker finanziari; circa due dozzine lavora per titani della finanza, come Lehamn Brothers, Goldman Sachs e Citigroup;
o Altri 40, circa, vengono dall’immobiliare.
o Tra i maggiori procacciatori: Julius Genachowski, ex alto funzionario della Federa Communications Commission; Robert Wolf, presidente e capo funzionario nella UBS Investment Bank; James A. Torrey, investitore NY negli hedge fund; Charles H. Rivkin, dirigente di uno studio televisivo di Los Angeles.
– Da quando ha deciso di presentarsi per le presidenziali, Obama si è dato da fare per costruire una rete di grandi sostenitori, cominciando con soli 75 procacciatori.
– I maggiori sostenitori di Obama competono con i $147 mn. raccolti dalla rete Pioneers and rangers del presidente Bush con contributi dai $1000 in su, nelle primarie 2004. Ha strappato, in una visita a Soros, alcuni maggiori dei procacciatori di fondi della Clinton (Orin Kramer, executive hedge fund, Wolf, UBS); poi anche ex procacciatori di Kerry (Lou Susman, banca di investimento di Chicago, Kirk Wagar).
– Almeno 58 dei procacciatori di fondi per Obama hanno versato personalmente nell’ultimo decennio oltre 100mila $ per candidati e comitati federali.
– Obama e McCain avrebbero un numero analogo di procacciatori di grossi finanziamenti.
– Obama organizza scrupolosamente la raccolta fondi, controllata nel raggiungimento degli obiettivi prefissati.
● Le elezioni presidenziali e per i 435 rappresentanti della camera e di 34 senatori (su 100) Congresso 2008, negli USA, le più costose di tutta la storia americana.
o Oltre $5,3 MD, di cui $2,4 per le presidenziali:
o da gennaio 2007, Obama e McCain hanno assieme speso oltre $900 mn; nel complesso i candidati alle presidenziali hanno speso oltre $1,5MD, circa il doppio delle presidenziali 2004.
● Obama ha raccolto circa $660 mn.; McCain $238 mn. La maggior parte del denaro proviene per entrambi da privati, più che dai sindacati, dai lavoratori dipendenti e da gruppi lobbistici. ($150mn a settembre, contro gli $84 mn. di McCain).
o Non vi è obbligo di rivelare i nomi dei milioni di donatori sotto i 200 $
o Battuto dai finanziamenti democratici, McCain denuncia Obama di comprare la propria elezione, e ha presentato ricorso contro finanziamenti provenienti dall’estero.
● Una delle maggiori differenze tra Obama e McCain è che Obama ha raccolto il 39% tramite contributi fino a $200, per la maggior marte tramite internet;
o a settembre 632mila nuovi donatori, per $150 mn., quasi il doppio rispetto ad agosto [ha utilizzato TV e radio, a internet, e per la prima volta ai giochi video; ha pagato 30 minuti di TV in orario di grande ascolto, per $1mn.;
o Obama supererebbe McCain per spot pubblicitari per 4 a 1.
o In Virginia, che non vota i democratici dal 1964, Obama ha seso da giugno $13mn., contro i 5,5 di McCain.
● McCain ha scelto il sistema pubblico di finanziamento, con diritto fino a $84mn per sett., ott, e nov.
● il 27% dei contributi per McCain proviene da donazioni tra i 200 e 2299 $.. (Sarebbe stata interrotta la tradizionale predominanza dei grandi sostenitori e gruppi di interesse che chiedono una contropartita).
I candidati per camera dei rappresentanti e senato avrebbero raccolto circa $1,5MD, con una predominanza degli eletti in carica (i senatori in carica hanno mediamente raccolto $8,3 mn., contro gli $850mila degli sfidanti.
August 6, 2008
Big Donors, Too, Have Seats at Obama Fund-Raising Table
By MICHAEL LUO and CHRISTOPHER DREW
In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far.
– But records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size.
– Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama “bundlers,” fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more.
– Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. Nearly three dozen of the bundlers have raised more than $500,000 each, including more than a half-dozen who have passed the $1 million mark and one or two who have exceeded $2 million, according to interviews with fund-raisers.
– While his campaign has cited its volume of small donations as a rationale for his decision to opt out of public financing for the general election, Mr. Obama has worked to build a network of big-dollar supporters from the time he began contemplating a run for the United States Senate. He tapped into well-connected people in Chicago prior to the 2004 Senate race, and once elected, set out across the country starting to cultivate some of his party’s most influential money collectors.
He courted them with the savvy of a veteran politician, through phone calls, meals and one-on-one meetings; he wrote thank-you cards and remembered birthdays; he sent them autographed copies of his book and doted on their children.
– The fruits of his efforts have put Mr. Obama’s major donors on a pace that almost rivals the $147 million raised by President Bush’s network of Pioneers and Rangers in contributions of $1,000 or larger during the 2004 primary season.
Given his decision not to accept public financing, Mr. Obama is counting on his bundlers to help him raise $300 million for his general-election campaign and another $180 million for the Democratic National Committee.
– An analysis of campaign finance records shows that about two-thirds of his bundlers are concentrated in four major industries: law, securities and investments, real estate and entertainment.
o Lawyers make up the largest group, numbering roughly 130, with many of them working for firms that also have lobbying arms.
● At least 100 Obama bundlers are top executives or brokers from investment businesses: nearly two dozen work for financial titans like Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs or Citigroup. About 40 others come from the real estate industry.
– The biggest fund-raisers include people like Julius Genachowski, a former senior official at the Federal Communications Commission and a technology executive who is new to political fund-raising; Robert Wolf, president and chief operating officer of UBS Investment Bank; James A. Torrey, a New York hedge-fund investor; and Charles H. Rivkin, chief executive of an animation studio in Los Angeles.
“It’s fairly clear that this is being packaged as an extraordinary new kind of fund-raising, and the Internet is a new and powerful part of it,” said Michael J. Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute. “But it’s also clear that many of the old donors are still there and important.”
The care and feeding that top Obama fund-raisers have received underscores their significance to his campaign. Members of his National Finance Committee who fulfill their commitment to raise at least $250,000 are being rewarded with trips to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
– Finance committee members participate in conference calls with top campaign officials every other week. The fund-raisers meet quarterly, often with Mr. Obama dropping in. He lingered after the most recent meeting in June in Chicago, telling his staff he wanted to thank every person in the room. Some fund-raisers who knocked on doors for Mr. Obama in places like Indiana, Iowa and Pennsylvania got to spend time with Mr. Obama backstage before and after speeches on primary nights.
His fund-raisers invariably say their support for him is not rooted in any kind of promise of access, but rather their belief in him.
“This is about Barack Obama and changing the direction of our country,” said Jonathan B. Perdue, a business consultant in Mill Valley, Calif., who has raised more than $250,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign.
– Mr. Obama has pledged not to accept donations from lobbyists or political action committees registered with the federal government. But some top donors clearly have policy and political agendas.
– Hedge-fund executives, for example, have bundled large sums for Mr. Obama at a time when their industry has been looking to increase its clout in Washington.
– Kenneth C. Griffin, chief executive officer of Citadel Investment Group in Chicago, has collected more than $50,000 for Mr. Obama. But Mr. Griffin, whose $1.5 billion in income in 2007 made him one of the country’s highest-paid hedge-fund executives, has given generously over the years to Republicans as well, and he recently helped to hold a fund-raiser for Mr. McCain.
o Citadel has spent more than $1.1 million, dating back to 2007, in lobbying against higher tax rates for hedge-fund gains. (Mr. Obama has supported the higher tax rates.)
– Similarly, Paul Tudor Jones, a billionaire hedge-fund manager from Connecticut, has raised more than $100,000 for Mr. Obama. But he also gave to Mr. McCain, to Rudolph W. Giuliani and to Mitt Romney. Mr. Jones, who has given more than $900,000 over the last decade to federal candidates and political organizations, helped form a trade association that has fought hedge-fund regulation.
Many fund-raisers sit on the campaign’s array of policy working groups, getting a chance to weigh in on policy positions and speeches. Mr. Genachowski, a Harvard Law School classmate of Mr. Obama, leads the technology working group. Fund-raisers from private equity and hedge funds sit on Mr. Obama’s economic policy group.
– Despite Mr. Obama’s image as a newcomer, many of his bundlers are Democratic Party stalwarts, including people who were some of the top fund-raisers for Senator John Kerry in 2004. At least 58 of them appear to have personally made more than $100,000 in contributions to federal candidates and committees over the last decade. Updated bundler lists released recently by the McCain and Obama campaigns show that they have similar numbers of high-dollar fund-raisers.
– The Obama fund-raising operation is meticulously organized. Bundlers are assigned tracking numbers, and the finance staff sends them quarterly reminders of how they are doing in meeting their goals.
“There’s no price for admission,” said Alan D. Solomont, a top Democratic fund-raiser in Boston who made his fortune in the nursing home industry and has given more than $1.5 million to Democratic candidates and causes. “We value every donation and every donor equally. But we are a performance-based organization. We want everybody to feel like they’re included, but at the same time we’re not here to have tea together.”
– Mr. Obama began courting many of his fund-raisers soon after he burst upon the national scene with his rousing speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
– Mr. Solomont, a major fund-raiser both for Mr. Kerry and for Bill Clinton during their presidential runs, received a call on his cellphone in February 2005, a year after Mr. Obama’s election to the Senate, from a member of his staff who asked if he would like to get together with Mr. Obama.
They met for Chinese food in Washington the following week, and Mr. Obama scored points with Mr. Solomont when he pointed out that they had both been community organizers earlier in their careers.
“I’ve been involved in politics a long time,” Mr. Solomont said. “Nobody’s bothered to know that about me.”
– Early that same year, Mr. Obama attended a dinner in the Bay Area for about 20 major Kerry supporters. The dinner was organized by Mark Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was Mr. Kerry’s single biggest fund-raiser, after Mr. Obama’s staff members contacted him. Several of those on hand, including Mr. Gorenberg and John Roos, head of a Silicon Valley law firm, became among the earliest and biggest check collectors for Mr. Obama’s presidential bid.
– In 2006, Mr. Obama became a vice chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, giving him the opportunity to campaign across the country and to cultivate other potential benefactors.
When his book “The Audacity of Hope” came out later that year, his staff members organized book parties at the homes of major Democratic donors.
– In December, Mr. Obama visited the New York office of the billionaire investor George Soros to court a roomful of high-powered Democratic fund-raisers, hoping to lure some of them away from Mrs. Clinton. Not everyone was swayed, but Mr. Obama won over Orin Kramer, a hedge-fund executive from New Jersey, and Mr. Wolf, the UBS executive, both of whom are now among Mr. Obama’s biggest fund-raisers.
– Mr. Obama signed on as his finance director Julianna Smoot, who had led fund-raising for Senate Democrats and, before that, for Senator Tom Daschle when he was majority leader.
With guidance from Ms. Smoot, a key part of the campaign’s fast start was its success in scooping up top former Kerry fund-raisers, including Lou Susman, a Chicago investment banker who was Mr. Kerry’s national finance chairman, and Kirk Wagar, a lawyer in Miami who became Mr. Obama’s finance chairman in Florida.
– Even so, the initial meeting of Mr. Obama’s national finance committee, held in Chicago the day after he officially announced his candidacy, was a relatively small affair, numbering about 75 people.
– Penny Pritzker, the billionaire heiress to the Hyatt hotel fortune whom Mr. Obama asked to become his finance chairwoman, challenged the group to double in size.
– The number of bundlers ballooned quickly. The Obama campaign made important inroads among affluent people under age 45, including Silicon Valley engineers and hedge-fund analysts, many of whom had not been on the political radar screen.
Donations in June, the latest month for which Mr. Obama has disclosed his donors to the Federal Election Commission, illustrate the double-barreled nature of the campaign’s fund-raising. Mr. Obama brought in nearly $31 million in contributions of less than $200, his best month for small donations. But he also collected more than $12 million in contributions of $1,000 or more, the most since the first half of 2007.
The share from large contributions appears poised to increase, as Mr. Obama has stepped up his fund-raising schedule.
“In 2007, the campaign relied on the tried and true methods like fund-raisers, for both large- and small-dollar donors, with the candidate or his surrogates, and the Internet largely financed it in 2008,” said Kirk Dornbush, the president of a biotech firm and a top fund-raiser in Atlanta. “When you combine the traditional fund-raising methods with the continued online contributions, you have a very, very powerful fund-raising engine.”
Griff Palmer contributed reporting.
Obama gegen McCain – Wahlkampf in Amerika ist der teuerste aller Zeiten
Von Claus Tigges, Washington
– Der Kampf ums Weiße Haus mag eine Woche vor dem Votum der Wähler noch nicht entschieden sein. Doch schon jetzt ist sicher, dass die Wahlen zur Präsidentschaft und zum Kongress 2008 die teuersten in der amerikanischen Geschichte sind.
– Mehr als 5,3 Milliarden Dollar werden letztlich im Ringen um die Wählergunst für Fernsehwerbung und vieles mehr ausgegeben worden sein – von Barack Obama und John McCain sowie von all jenen, die sich um 435 Sitze im Repräsentantenhaus und um 34 der 100 Plätze im Senat bewerben. Das jedenfalls schätzt das Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, ein „Think Tank“, der sich der Analyse der Wahlkampffinanzierung widmet.
– Allein der Präsidentschaftswahlkampf wird demnach 2,4 Milliarden Dollar verschlingen, so viel wie nie zuvor (Siehe auch: Obamas TV-Wahlkampf: Trommelfeuer im Luftkrieg ). Obama und McCain haben seit Januar vergangenen Jahres zusammen mehr als 900 Millionen Dollar an Spenden aufgetrieben; zusammen mit den vorher ausgeschiedenen Bewerbern wie Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney und anderen sind es mehr als 1,5 Milliarden. Damit wird sich das Spendenaufkommen im Vergleich zur Präsidentenwahl 2004 nahezu verdoppeln.
Obama sammelte mehr kleine Beträge
– Wie aus den Zahlen der amerikanischen Bundeswahlkommission hervorgeht, hat der Demokrat Obama rund 660 Millionen Dollar an Spenden eingesammelt.
– Der Republikaner McCain kommt auf 238 Millionen Dollar und liegt damit sogar noch hinter Frau Clinton, die schon im Sommer aus dem Rennen ausgeschieden ist.
– Obama und McCain haben das meiste Geld von Privatpersonen erhalten, mehr als von den von Gewerkschaften, Unternehmensbelegschaften und Lobbygruppen gegründeten Political Action Committees (PAC).
– Ein wichtiger Unterschied besteht allerdings in der Höhe der Spenden: Obama hat knapp 39 Prozent seiner Spenden in Beträgen von 200 Dollar oder weniger bekommen, McCains Spender haben größtenteils – zu 27 Prozent – zwischen 200 und 2299 Dollar an ihren Kandidaten überwiesen.
„Eine Reihe von neuen Rekorden“
„Diese Wahl wird eine Reihe von neuen Rekorden aufstellen, nicht nur das Überschreiten der 5-Milliarden-Marke“, sagt Sheila Krumholz, Direktorin der Denkfabrik.
– Es sei ermutigend, zu sehen, dass die traditionelle Dominanz von Großspendern und Interessengruppen, die oft eine konkrete Gegenleistung des Wahlsiegers erwarteten, gebrochen werde. „Das Einzige, was Kleinspender erwarten, ist der Sieg am Wahltag. Das ist eine Entwicklung, die für die Demokratie gesund ist“, sagt Krumholz.
– Nach Angaben des Center for Responsive Politics hatten die Bewerber um Plätze in Repräsentantenhaus und Senat bis vergangene Woche insgesamt rund 1,5 Milliarden Dollar an Spenden für ihre Wahlkämpfe eingesammelt, wobei Amtsinhaber offenbar einen gewaltigen Vorsprung gegenüber ihren Herausforderern haben. Senatoren haben beispielsweise durchschnittlich 8,3 Millionen Dollar eingenommen, ihre Herausforderer gerade einmal 850.000 Dollar.
Fünf Millionen Euro kostete der Werbeauftritt zur besten Sendezeit bei allen großen Sendern für Obama
Vom Ausgang der Kongresswahl hängt viel ab. Es wird allgemein damit gerechnet, dass die Demokraten ihre Mehrheiten in den beiden Kammern ausbauen können. Das würde einem Präsidenten Obama das Regieren tendenziell erleichtern, und es würde es für McCain noch schwieriger machen, seine Politik ins Werk zu setzen.
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Obama pulvérise tous les records de levée de fonds
New York, Adèle Smith
21/10/2008 | Mise à jour : 10:57 | Commentaires 8
Barack Obama (ici avec Hillary Clinton) a mené la campagne la plus chère de l’histoire : 605 millions de dollars à lui seul depuis le début.
Complètement dépassé par la puissance financière de Barack Obama, le camp républicain crie à la corruption et fait allusion au scandale politico-financier du Watergate.
– Le candidat démocrate a récolté 150 millions de dollars en septembre, du jamais-vu dans l’histoire des élections américaines, dépassant ainsi largement les 84 millions de dollars de son rival, mais suscitant aussi des questions sur le financement des campagnes politiques.
– Pouvait-on imaginer que des donations privées de 5, 10 et 25 dollars aboutissent à la campagne la plus chère de l’histoire : 605 millions de dollars pour le seul Barack Obama depuis le début. 632 000 nouveaux donateurs en septembre, soit 150 millions de dollars, c’est presque le double par rapport au mois d’août, qui était déjà un mois record. Le candidat démocrate a révolutionné la notion même de financement des campagnes.
– En optant pour les petits dons, illimités dans le nombre, et la plupart sur Internet, il a littéralement noyé son rival. John McCain, ayant opté pour le système public de financement, n’a droit qu’aux 84 millions de dollars offerts par la commission électorale pour les mois de septembre, octobre et novembre. En manœuvrant dans les limites de la loi, il a bien quelques dizaines de millions de dollars en plus, mais la différence reste prodigieuse.
– Grâce à ce trésor de guerre, Barack Obama dépense quand il veut, où il veut et comme il veut. Il a non seulement envahi les ondes TV et radio, mais aussi l’Internet, et même les jeux vidéo, une première.
– Il va s’offrir ce qu’aucun candidat n’avait pu s’accorder depuis 16 ans : trente minutes d’antenne à une heure de grande écoute sur deux grandes chaînes nationales à quelques jours de l’élection. Le coût : 1 million de dollars la demi-heure. Le spécialiste des spots publicitaires CMAG estime qu’Obama dépasse McCain en publicités avec un ratio de un à quatre
Une présence renforcée dans les bastions républicains
Dans les dernières semaines cruciales de la campagne, le camp Obama peut donc se permettre de renforcer sa présence dans les bastions traditionnellement républicains, logiquement impossibles à conquérir. D’après les sondages, ses efforts payent. La Virginie, par exemple, n’a pas voté démocrate depuis 1964. Aujourd’hui, elle balance entre les deux camps.
– Obama y a dépensé 13 millions de dollars depuis juin, McCain seulement 5,5 millions. Grâce à son magot, Obama peut à la fois égaler McCain en publicités négatives et le dépasser allègrement en publicités positives, celles qui laissent au final une impression plus favorable auprès des électeurs.
– Le camp McCain, complètement dépassé par le raz-de-marée financier démocrate, crie à la corruption et suggère de plus en plus haut qu’Obama est en train d’acheter cette élection. Dimanche, le candidat républicain a fait allusion au scandale politico-financier du Watergate et mis en garde Obama.
– En choisissant les fonds privés, le camp Obama n’est pas obligé de révéler les noms de millions de donateurs de moins de 200 dollars et ne le fait pas. Il ne sera d’ailleurs pas soumis à un audit systématique de son budget après l’élection. Le Parti républicain a d’ores et déjà déposé une plainte sur certains financements pro-Obama venant de l’étranger, jugés douteux. Il veut aussi que la lumière soit faite sur les petits dons sur Internet aux noms exotiques, comme Es Esh, Edrty Eddty ou encore Good Will.
Sans nier les problèmes, le camp Obama souligne la difficulté de contrôler les dons par Internet et insiste au contraire sur le caractère démocratique du petit financement. «C’est ce qu’il y a derrière les chiffres qui compte, en terme de quantité de gens qui veulent vraiment le changement», rappelle le directeur de campagne d’Obama, David Plouffe.