Big-Dollar Donors Are Major Force in Obama Campaign

[Wretched Excess]

so much for ending the influence of special interests in washington DC.

. . . two-thirds of his bundlers are concentrated in four major industries: law, securities and investments, real estate and entertainment. Lawyers make up the largest group . . .

Big-Dollar Donors Are Major Force in Obama Campaign

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.

Much More

[DixieBelle]

I'm glad this is getting traction. It came up a while back and got kind of ignored while the MSM genuflected.

[Chris_]

I'm glad this is getting traction. It came up a while back and got kind of ignored while the MSM genuflected.

That wasn't genuflecting -- that was a sucking hussein's dick.

[DixieBelle]

I'm glad this is getting traction. It came up a while back and got kind of ignored while the MSM genuflected.

That wasn't genuflecting -- that was a sucking hussein's dick.

ROFL! You read between the lines I wrote huh?

Well, I'm a genteel lady ya know!

[Wretched Excess]

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.

a direction that will no doubt favor and promote legislation that is favorable to he is personal financial interests.

the emperor has no clothes;  this is more of the same, pure and plain and simple.

[Jim]

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.

a direction that will no doubt favor and promote legislation that is favorable to he is personal financial interests.

the emperor has no clothes;  this is more of the same, pure and plain and simple.

what little record he has, highlights this.  we can expect this to come up in the fall in the 'change, what change ?' aspect of the GOP efforts.

[Wretched Excess]

from the homepage of The BarackStar!'s campaign website.  I guess the web guys haven't "clarified" this
one yet.

    “I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.”

    — Barack Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007

[Lauri]

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.

a direction that will no doubt favor and promote legislation that is favorable to he is personal financial interests.

the emperor has no clothes;  this is more of the same, pure and plain and simple.

yeah, this part ought to scare the hell out of most of America:

He tapped into well-connected people in Chicago prior to the 2004 Senate race