GOP High Rollers Keep Wallets Shut

Washington Post: Many Major Fundraisers Don't Give To Republican Candidates This Time Around

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Chris Cillizza and Matthew Mosk.

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More than a third of the top fundraisers who helped elect George W. Bush president remain on the sidelines in 2008, contributing to a gaping financial disparity between the GOP candidates and their Democratic counterparts.

Scores of Bush Pioneers and Rangers are not working for any Republican candidate, citing discontent with the war in Iraq, anger at the performance of Republicans in Congress and a general lack of enthusiasm. More than two dozen have actually made contributions to Democrats.

Matt Fong, a former California state treasurer, 1998 U.S. Senate candidate and two-time Bush Pioneer, said that after months of disappointment in the Republican Party, he had hoped to be recharged by the new crop of presidential candidates.

"I have yet to get interested in any of them," he said. "I'm just not happy with the direction of our party. I think we have a huge credibility problem, which I have not seen any of the candidates show the ability to rise above."

Democrats now have more than twice as much money to spend in the upcoming primaries as Republicans do, according to Federal Election Commission reports released this week. Some leading Republicans said they fear that a lack of enthusiasm could translate to indifference from rank-and-file Republicans in next year's election.

"The Republican brand is not selling very well," said Christine Todd Whitman, a former New Jersey governor, Bush Cabinet member and 2004 Ranger. "There are a lot of frustrated people. They are not seeing anybody who has sent them over the top."

Alvin R. "Pete" Carpenter, a former chief executive of CSX Transportation and a Bush Pioneer in 2000, said it was a combination of the Iraq war and the free spending of Republicans when they controlled Congress that slowly drained his enthusiasm for the party. Carpenter, 65, said he has been a lifelong Republican and was a "Goldwater kid." But this year he sent a contribution to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

"I have opted out for all the well-documented reasons that disaffected Republicans use," Carpenter said. "I'm not sure which primary I'll vote in. At the moment I will say I'm keeping my powder dry. It's the first time I'm really a bit confused about what I should be doing, or where the country should be headed."

For months, Republicans have worried about the lack of energy displayed by their loyalists and donors, especially when compared with the enthusiasm of Democrats. Polls consistently show Democrats to be far more excited about their candidates than Republicans are with theirs.

That inequity in fervor is most apparent in the raw fundraising total for each side. Through Sept. 30, the Democratic field had taken in $223 million in contributions, compared with $150 million for Republicans.

In the first nine months of 2007, the Democratic front-runners, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Obama, combined to raise about $150 million for their bids. The best-funded Republicas, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, together raised about $90 million over the same period.

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Latest From The Money Race
Check out the latest tallies for Republicans and Democrats including how much they've raised and spent since the campaign began.

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Scores of the roughly 630 men and women who made up Bush's famed corps of Pioneers and Rangers in 2000 and 2004 remain involved with campaigns. (Pioneers were those who raised at least $100,000, Rangers at least $200,000.) Al Cardenas, a former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, is aiding Romney. Former ambassador to Luxembourg Peter Terpeluk Jr. is with Giuliani, Pilot Corp. founder James A. Haslam II has signed on with former senator Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), and former commerce secretary Robert A. Mosbacher is backing Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Some of the top Bush fundraisers have stepped aside from politics for other reasons. There are those who had personal friendships with the Bush family that do not extend to other candidates, those who have tired of repeatedly soliciting friends for checks. Some are in prison or are dead.

A sizable number still have a wait-and-see attitude, despite the fact that the field appears to be set after the late entry of Thompson and the decision by former House speaker Newt Gingrich to stay out.

"I've been courted by several of them, but I really haven't made a decision," said John Etchart, a businessman in Helena, Mont., who was a Pioneer in 2004.

"With the Bush campaign, I was connected to it, so it was natural for me. I had an affinity for Governor Bush," he said. "That's not the case now. There's a natural barrier to entry that I have not overcome. I'm watching it and I'm staying tuned in."

Etchart said he is not convinced that the party is in such dire condition that it cannot bounce back before November 2008.

"Obviously these aren't the rosiest times," he said. "But I do think the Republican nominee will stand a very good chance of winning, notwithstanding the present difficulty."

Many Republicans argue that if Clinton is the Democratic nominee, the party's financial woes will disappear.

"We have a handful of candidates that will be acceptable to the 'Hate Hillary' crowd," said Anne Dunsmore, a longtime Republican fundraiser based in California. "You don't see us trying to take her out."

But John Weaver, a former senior adviser for McCain's campaign, argued that the fundraising dynamic speaks to a broader problem for the GOP.

"There is currently a lack of energy, a lack of enthusiasm, a lack of optimism about the near-term future of the party," he said. "If it doesn't change quickly, it's a leading indicator of what kind of problem we are going to have next fall."

Database editor Sarah Cohen and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.

[realpatriot1]

A couple of notes for terrified of Islam: 1) This is the greatest global economic expansion in history, unfortunately, the U.S. is the only drag on it; 2)the republicans promised term limits but once they got in power they reneged without making any effort to pass it.

[terrorislam2]

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life. Theodore Roosevelt

...the man who really counts in the world is the doer, not the mere critic-the man who actually does the work, even if roughly and imperfectly, not the man who only talks or writes about how it ought to be done. (1891) Theodore Roosevelt...

It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things. Theodore Roosevelt

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big. Theodore Roosevelt

Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind. Theodore Roosevelt

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything. Theodore Roosevelt

The pacifist is as surely a traitor to his country and to humanity as is the most brutal warmonger. Theodore Roosevelt

[terrorislam2]

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Theodore Roosevelt

Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. The function of the mere critic is of very subordinate usefulness. It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought, without himself sharing the stress and the danger. (1894) Theodore Roosevelt

To sit home, read one''''s favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men''''s doing. - The Outlook December 21, 1895 Theodore Roosevelt

[kansas1946]

More than a third of the top fundraisers who helped elect George W. Bush president remain on the sidelines in 2008, contributing to a gaping financial disparity between the GOP candidates and their Democratic counterparts.
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No kidding. I can''t imagine any of the Republican candidates getting any smart money. Those guys know it is a lost cause.

[speakinup]

"When a politician has a lot of money, it just means that they are good prostitutes and they are owned by their largest contributors. gunownerdan

And, there you have it. Any comments, Hillary donors ? Soros, will that be a BJ, or round-the-world for you ?

[suhaalnafa]

Thanks a lot!

[suhaalnafa]

However, he established chaos

[feelfree1]

Take care, SuhaAlNafa.

I hope to read more of your comments here in the future, and feel free to invite a friend ;-)

[dmgenet]

Where is their money going then? Really! It''s just wholesale bribery no matter which party it goes to. Giving money to a political party is like Bush going into Iraq to establish democracy. False pretenses...

[suhaalnafa]

I hope so

[feelfree1]

SuhaAlNafa,

Re: "Feelfree, Thanks for the hospitality"

You are quite welcome.

Re: "I can tell that they are stupid people who cannot understand the others, they understand only the mentality of their village"

Their collective deficiencies seem to be universally understood and detected.

Fortunately, they are in their "final throes".

[suhaalnafa]

speakinup, excuse me, I thought that you and terrorislam2 live somewhere in village

[speakinup]

You are right about one thing SuhaAlNafa, I don''t understand how far left liberals could be so stupid.

feel free - kiss her not too far to the left and not too far to the right, butt right in the center.

[speakinup]

"I can tell that they are stupid people who cannot understand the others, they understand only the mentality of their village...

Country dear, Country.

[speakinup]

"They have nothing of value to contribute.

"The best that they can manage is to attempt to change the subject. Their opinions are no longer relevant. Feelfree1

Oh, I believe I''ve already had a meaningful conversation with SuhaAlNafa, feelfree1. (her name BTW). She seems worried that the US would want to knock over Syria, because it is also a Baath (sp?) party country.

But, by all means feel free (pun intended) to play the 800 pound gorilla - we all know you will anyway. Buzzz buzz buzzz.

[suhaalnafa]

Feelfree, Thanks for the hospitality, I can tell that they are stupid people who cannot understand the others, they understand only the mentality of their village

[feelfree1]

SuhaAlNafa,

Re: "My state is Syria,
my homeland is Arabia,
my eyes are Lebanese cedar,
my hairs are the Nefud desert,
my sister is a Yemenite girl,
I`m an Arab girl!"

Welcome to the discussion, and please pay no attention to the foul and fascistic disruptors such as ''speakinup'' and ''terrorislam2''. They have nothing of value to contribute.

The best that they can manage is to attempt to change the subject. Their opinions are no longer relevant.

I look forward to reading more of your comments.

[socrates392]

Posted by terrorislam2 at 05:27 PM : Oct 17, 2007

Thanks for the heads up! I''ll buy low and make big profits! Thanks, Lars008!

[speakinup]

"Let''s see, support the same guys who have oil up to 87 dollars a barrel...Smirk5

Interesting you bring up 87 a barrel. IF 80 is sustained, we can economically mine shale oil in the US. Something we''ve got three times more oil in than the Saudis have in liquid oil.

Hmmm - energy independent - let the middle east eat their oil. I think we should start a wheat cartel. Let''s see those chinese get THAT product outsourced to them.

[terrorislam2]

LEFT WING NUT PARTISAN PROPAGANDA RAG DIES IN THE MARKET hahaha

Morgan Stanley Sells Entire New York Times Stake
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest shareholder in New York Times Co., sold its entire 7.3 percent stake today, according to a person briefed on the transaction, sending the stock to its lowest in more than 10 years.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aY9iww4X.01g