| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 'First fund-raiser' to the nation
By Robert Yoon
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- No matter which way you cut it, the president has a lot of money and a lot of people to thank. According to campaign estimates, roughly 262,000 Americans reached into their pockets from July through September and gave an average $280 to the Bush-Cheney re-election effort, totaling a record $49.5 million. And as any respectable news organization will excitedly point out, that's more than the combined total of the nine Democratic contenders. (Bush rakes in almost $50 million in Q3) So what's a busy president to do? Write thank-you notes? Sure, he can afford it. In fact, the $83.9 million that Bush has raised since launching his re-election bid in May is enough to send every voting-aged American a nice thank-you letter. And to put that in perspective, the pocket change left over from this hypothetically massive direct mail buy (about $6.3 million) is still likely to be more than what any non-Dean Democrat has raised for the quarter. But who exactly should the president thank? He could start with himself, as well as the first lady and vice president. Together, the three principals headlined enough fund-raisers to rake in $41.1 million in the third quarter, and $70.2 million for the year. Then, of course, there are the "Rangers" and "Pioneers," the cadre of uber-fund-raisers who each raised at least $200,000 and $100,000, respectively. But with 100 Rangers and 185 Pioneers pulling in at least $38.5 million, they all seem to blend together into an amorphous blob of cash and checks. Here's a quick guide to tell them apart: • States that have elected governors named Bush: It may sound like a bad country song, but "all my bundlers live in Texas." The president's home state produced 12 Rangers (second only to 14 for Brother Jeb's Florida) and 26 Pioneers, the most of any state. A total 13 Pioneers come from Florida. • Getting the band back together: Over half of this quarter's Rangers (53 percent) were Pioneers in the 2000 campaign. Roughly one-third of all elite fund-raisers this quarter were Pioneers during the last campaign. • "All in the Family," Part I: Presidential brother and venture capitalist Marvin P. Bush of Virginia has reached Ranger status. Second cousin George H. Walker IV, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, is a Pioneer. • "All in the Family," Part II: The Egans of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, are the only known family to include -- count 'em -- three Rangers. Papa Richard Egan, billionaire founder of a data storage firm and ambassador to Ireland, and his sons Christopher and Michael have raised a total of $600,000 on behalf of Bush-Cheney '04. The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics has dubbed them "the first family of fund-raising." • Current office-holders: House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois, Rep. Jennifer Dunn of Washington, Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Oregon, Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado and Gov. George Pataki of New York have all attained Ranger status. Pioneers include Sens. Norm Coleman, R-Minnesota; Peter Fitzgerald, Illinois; and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican. • Former politicos: They may no longer be in the public eye, but a number of retired politicians still solicit campaign cash on behalf of the president. Former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez is a Ranger; former Sens. Rudy Boschwitz, Minnesota; New York's Al D'Amato; Missouri's John Danforth; and Bush (president 41) chief of staff Samuel Skinner are all card-carrying Pioneers. • Other notable Rangers include: Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood Johnson IV; GOP strategist Ralph Reed; NRCC Chair Tom Reynolds; former California GOP chair Shawn Steele; and Safeway CEO Steven Burd. • Other notable Pioneers include: Anheuser-Busch Chairman and CEO August Busch III; former Florida GOP chair Al Cardenas; and former Reps. Tillie Fowler and Bill Paxon.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
