Big donors are among Obama's backers

[Beacool]

Big donors are among Obama's backers

Dem hopeful's record-breaking fundraising machine isn't entirely grassroots.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama credits his presidential campaign with creating a "parallel public financing system" built on a wave of modest donations from homemakers and high school teachers. Small givers, he said at a fundraiser this week, "will have as much access and influence over the course and direction of our campaign that has traditionally been reserved for the wealthy and the powerful."

But those with wealth and power also have played a critical role in creating Obama's record-breaking fundraising machine, and their generosity has earned them a prominent voice in shaping his campaign. Seventy-nine "bundlers," five of them billionaires, have tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. They have helped the campaign recruit more than 27,000 donors to write checks for $2,300, the maximum allowed. Donors who have given more than $200 account for about half of Obama's total haul, which stands at nearly $240 million.

----------------

The bundler list also sheds light on those who might seek to influence an Obama White House. It includes traditional Democratic givers — Hollywood, trial lawyers and Wall Street — and newcomers such as young hedge fund executives, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Chicago-based developers (Rezko?) and members of the black business elite. One-third had never contributed to a presidential campaign, much less raised money.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24060056/


Ahhhhhh, the "little people", never trust a B.S. Artist.

:eyes:

[GarbagemanLB]

lol

[NYCGirl]

1. No one ever said it was "entirely grassroots". NT

[Schema Thing]

2. The OP is a B.S. artist

And the whole article is one big "no shit, Sherlock" moment.

[Adelante]

6. Heh, my reaction was "No shit, Dick Tracy." nt

[maximusveritas]

3. 40% of Obama's donations are $200 or less. Only 23% for Hillary and McCain

Meanwhile, 24% of Hillary's donations are from maxed out donors, compared to just 6% for Obama.

And you guys have the nerve to attack him on big donors?

What a joke.

[redqueen]

9. Yup.

I don't expect any attack will be considered too silly or too back-asswards over the next 10 days.

[BlooInBloo]

13. Pfft. Like the truth matters to DUers.

[Alter Ego]

4. Never mind that around 40% or so of his campaign comes from

contributions under $200.

I guess facts can't get in the way of a good smear.

[blm]

5. ANY presidential campaign is going to have big donors - why pretend somehow that Obama's supporters

are so naive they didn't know this?

What we also KNOW is that Obama didn't spend the 90s covering up for BushInc and deep-sixing BCCI reports for HIS BIG DONORS like Clintons did.

Did you even BOTHER to notice that exchange that ended up hurting this nation in so many ways?

Do you EXCUSE Clintons' favors for their donors that effectively protected Poppy Bush and his powerful cronies and led to Bush2, 9-11, and this Iraq war?

[Cant trust em]

7. just because he pulls in mostly little fish

doesn't mean he's not interested in the big ones. It would be pretty dumb to blow off big donors.

[scheming daemons]

8. Nobody ever said there weren't *SOME* big donors.... bullshit post from a bullshit artist...

The overwhelming majority of Obama's donors are small donors.... but there are SOME big donors.


Nobody ever said differently.

[Bigleaf]

10. The key word is 'AMONG'. Fucking shocking I tell you! Who would have guessed?

[anamandujano]

11. $240 Million! He should have closed the deal by now.

He can't even buy the nom. This is laughable.

[GarbagemanLB]

12. It is tough when the establishment is behind Hillary.

[anamandujano]

17. Establishment====$$$$$$$$$$. Where you been?

[jackson_dem]

19. Obama has more superdelegate elected officials supporting him than Clinton, including the DLC

[zulchzulu]

15. Actually, he has nearly closed the deal...

As for Hillary's campaign, she's rubbing pennies together and not paying her bills.

What a success.... :puke:

[americanstranger]

16. At least his campaign isn't in debt and stiffing vendors.

Did UC Davis get paid yet, or did they have to turn the bill over to a collection agency?

- as

[zulchzulu]

14. Donors who have given $200 account for HALF of Obama's $240 million

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/10/AR2008041004045.html?nav=rss_politics

Wow. We can't have a successful, record-breaking fundraising candidate for the Democratic Party. That would be...um...good.

:crazy:

[bowens43]

18. Do you have a point? No one has ever claimed that it was entirely grassroots.

You would have to be pretty foolish to think that this is some kind of problem for Obama.

[uponit7771]

24. They are trying to say grass roots is ONLY 25 dollar donors though. That point is assinine

[jackson_dem]

20. Obama has raised as much money as "corporate" Clinton from those giving the max of $2,300

Connect the dots. If Clinton is "corporate"...

[Vinca]

21. Is "corporate" defined as giving $2300?

I'm just an individual and I've given that amount to campaigns.

[jackson_dem]

22. It is a good proxy for that. You know, despite Obama's lies, corps can't directly give money.

That has been the case for 100 years yet Obama is lying about it in Pennsylvania ads.

[uponit7771]

26. that's not a lie and he's not accepting lobbyist or PAC money PERIOD. HRC supportors make HC look...

...like a hack on this issue because she's not raising money with the little donor and you're highlighting that she's also taking PAC and lobbyist money.

[uponit7771]

23. Grass roots = excluding rich people from donating? Are you freakin kidding me? MSN article is stupid

[BlooInBloo]

25. You should take over for Solomon at WaPo - your idiotic hitpieces are just as good...

http://www.americablog.com/2007/01/wash-post-ombudsman-slaps-reporter.html

"... It was a story about how Edwards sold his house to someone John Solomon and his editors at the Post don't like. That's it. The story implied in its first two paragraphs that Edwards' spokeswoman lied to reporters about the sale - but in the 9th paragraph of the story you find out that Edwards' spokeswoman actually told the truth. As we wrote before, this is a classic Solomon trick - imply something nefarious in the first few paragraphs, then disprove it buried way down in the story where the reader likely won't even see it. And sometimes, he's even less sneaky - he simply reports an outright lie, something the source never even said..."

[jillan]

27. CNN reported on this earlier today too.

[uponit7771]

28. It's a BS story, basically they're trying to say grass roots means only poor people donate. Obama is

...saying what's different about his campaign is he's not accepting PAC or Lobbyist donations and they're are letters from the Obama campaign with refunds to PACs and lobbyist who've tried to donate.

[jillan]

30. Not according to what they were saying on CNN today, that Obama is taking corporate money.

[Qutzupalotl]

31. Not from lobbyists.

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/deadline1?source=20080331_EOQ_DP1_X_G

Legal Compliance
Check this box to confirm that the following statements are true and accurate:

6. This contribution is not made from the funds of an individual registered as a federal lobbyist or a foreign agent, or an entity that is a federally registered lobbying firm or foreign agent.



You might have to parse CNN's exact wording. Some employees of these firms are not subject to this rule. But the lobbyists definitely are.

[quakerboy]

32. CNN distort something

Say it ain't so.

[nichomachus]

29. Get money and religion out of politics

Until you do, posting this kind of stuff is just stupid.