President Bush had his Pioneers and Rangers that gathered big-money donors, aggregating at least $100,000 for the campaign. Similarly, the 2008 candidates are developing their own big-money “bundlers.”
Public Citizen launched WhiteHouseForSale.org on Thursday, a Web site designed to bring these people to light. Their info comes from the campaigns themselves, although the campaigns are not obligated to disclose
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how much each bundler is responsible for raising. According to the site:
Many of Bush’s supporters have thrown their weight behind John McCain. Jerry Colangelo, who owns the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, supports McCain, as does Robert W. Johnson IV, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune and owner of the New York Jets. Henry Kissinger has even rounded up the troops, along with FedEx founder and CEO Fred Smith and Wachovia president Kennedy Thompson.
Sen. Hillary Clinton counts among her bundlers Charles and James Dolan, heirs of the Cablevision and Madison Square Garden/New York Knicks and Rangers empire. Also in the Clinton camp: SlimFast founder Daniel Abraham, Gateway co-founder Ted Waitt, filmmaker Steven Spielberg and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine.
Sen. Barack Obama has listed all those who have raised more than $50,000, a group that includes billionaire record producer and film mogul David Geffen and his Dreamworks colleague Jeff Katzenberg.
Rudy Giuliani has a lot of New York moguls on his list. Donald Trump Jr., son of the big guy, is raising money for his former mayor. Jim Turley, the chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, and Bernard Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot, add a corporate flair. From the sports side, Texas Rangers owner Thomas Hicks and Modell’s CEO Mitchell Modell are bringing in funds.
Mitt Romney’s group is heavy on entrepreneurs: eBay CEO Meg Whitman, Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon, JetBlue founder David Neeleman and Miami Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga.
Indiana Pacers General Manager David Kahn is bundling for John Edwards.
And Fred Thompson, who hasn’t announced his candidacy yet, has 21 people bundling for him, including Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.
