Bill Clinton used to hang out at donor dinners for hours. He loved 'em. Clinton "set the gold standard for the art form known as 'donor maintenance'," according to Jane Mayer writing about Obama's donors in the New Yorker. Obama is squeamish (my word, not Mayer's) when it comes to milking the rich guys. I like Obama all the better for it. Except at election time. He needs every penny he can drag out of them and that involves doing the Clinton thing.
By the time that Obama ran for President, in 2008, his relations with the financial industry had grown warmer, and he attracted more donations from Wall Street leaders than John McCain, his Republican opponent, did. Yet this good feeling did not last, despite the government’s bailout of the banking sector. Many financial titans felt that the President’s attitude toward the “one per cent” was insufficiently admiring, even hostile.
The planning for the fund-raisers seemed to underline this estrangement. Obama’s first event was a 6 P.M. dinner at the Four Seasons. About forty contributors, many of them from Wall Street, had paid thirty thousand dollars each to dine with him. Some of the invitees were disgruntled supporters who felt unfairly blamed for the country’s economic problems, and they wanted to vent about what they considered Obama’s anti-business tone. But the President did not have enough time to hear them out—or even share a meal—because after only an hour he was scheduled to leave for the second fund-raiser, at the downtown home of Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue. At the Four Seasons, the President could spend about seven minutes per table, each of which accommodated eight donors. This was fund-raising as speed-dating.
The President’s staff knew that Obama wouldn’t have a moment to eat properly that day, and that it would be hard for him to do so while being the focus of attention at the fund-raisers. So time was set aside at the Four Seasons for Obama to grab a bite, in a “ready room,” with Reggie Love, his personal aide, and Valerie Jarrett, his close friend, senior adviser, and liaison to the business community. This arrangement, however, inadvertently left the impression that Obama preferred his staff’s company to that of the paying guests.
“Obama is very meticulous—they have clockwork timing,” one of the attendees says. “After a few minutes at each table, a staffer would come and tap him on the shoulder, and he’d get up. But when people pay thirty thousand they want to talk to you, and take a picture with you. He was trying to be fair, and that’s great, but every time he started to have a real conversation he got tapped.”...Jane Mayer, New Yorker
Obama has to do better. His staff have to do much, much better for god's sake, if this is anything to judge them by. Leaving the donors feeling they are "insufficiently" admired just isn't good enough.
Top Obama donors began grumbling on the first day of the Administration. “The swearing-in was the beginning of pissing off the donors,” a longtime Washington fund-raiser says. “During the inaugural weekend, they didn’t have the capacity to handle all the people who had participated at the highest levels, because there were so many.” One middle-aged widow, from whom the fund-raiser had secured fifty thousand dollars, got four tickets to the swearing-in, but none of them were together. “She was so offended!” the fund-raiser says. “And I got no credit, by the way, for bringing her in. Important donors need to be cultivated so that they’re there four years later.” ...Jane Mayer, New Yorker
Apparently, the Obama administration/campaign has improved in the area of "donor-maintenance skills"-- thanks, it seems, to some help from Bill Clinton. But now they and their donors are up against Citizens United.
The White House and its biggest supporters are, well... "dismayed" is an insufficient description. "Panicked" may be closer, particularly when even the plentiful and generous Democratic supporters look forward to the 2016 election. By then, the penny will have dropped -- the realization of what the Kochs are achieving will have had its energizing effect on corporate America even if the Republicans don't win this time around.
As an incumbent, Obama has intrinsic advantages when it comes to withstanding the tide of money from wealthy individuals. But, looking ahead, many Democrats grow more concerned. Bill Burton, the former White House aide who is now running Priorities USA, says, “My worry is that the numbers will just get even more astronomical. It could easily be doubled, or quadrupled, by 2016. Once big business realizes it can purchase the White House, you have to wonder what the limit is.” ...Jane Mayer, New Yorker
Comments