Big Donors Drive Obama's Money Edge

Barack Obama appears with his wife, Michelle, at a rally in Miami yesterday. Of the $600 million his campaign has raised overall, one-quarter has come from donors who gave $200 or less. (By Linda Davidson -- The Washington Post)
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"The truth is, he is attracting more money at all levels, ranging from $1 to $2,300," said Jan Baran, a Republican fundraising expert. "We're talking about someone who raised money from 3.1 million people. I think he can validly claim a widespread base of support."

From the start, Obama's campaign has designed a fundraising effort that tries to maximize contributions from both small and large donors. That effort expanded in late summer, when Obama prepared to accept his party's nomination and the DNC set up separate committees that would enable top donors to give as much as $65,500 to support his bid.

The best-known of those committees, the Obama Victory Fund, has catered to party regulars who attended one of dozens of gala events around the country, including VIP gatherings for those able to donate $28,500. The Committee for Change has quietly accepted millions more, in checks ranging from $5,000 to $66,900, from celebrities, corporate titans, Native American tribes and several of Obama's most ardent bundlers.

They include entertainment mogul David Geffen, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, actress Annette Bening, the California-based Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and members of Chicago's Crown family.

DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said the committee will support ground operations in 18 states, including all the key battlegrounds. "It's a way for donors to give directly to the state parties' ground operation, working in the field in support of Democrats up and down the ballot," she said.

The closest equivalent to the soft-money donors of the Clinton era, or to Bush's "Pioneers" and "Rangers," are those who have contributed to each facet of the Obama fundraising machine.

Among those who have both raised top dollar and donated it are St. Louis developer Bob Clark, Florida lawyer Mark Gilbert, and Hollywood moguls Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, whose children each gave $37,000 to the Committee for Change.

The Crowns, longtime Obama patrons, are among a handful who have given across the board: They raised more than $500,000 for Obama's campaign, they collectively gave $18,500 directly to the campaign, they donated $57,000 to the Victory Fund, and they sent $74,000 to the Committee for Change.

"By both raising the most money and donating to every committee, they become double big players," said Fred Wertheimer, a campaign finance advocate who helped lead the effort to rid politics of soft-money donors, who were allowed to give unlimited amounts. "This has become the newest form of problem money."