Top Kerry Fundraisers Join Obama Campaign

[Alhena]

The biggest of these is Solomont- he's not a household name, but he's one of the top Democratic fundraisers in the country. A huge pick-up for Obama.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/from-kerry-to-obama/

From Kerry to Obama
By Jeff Zeleny

Less than 24 hours after Senator John Kerry announced that he would not enter the 2008 presidential race, some of his prominent contributors are joining the camp of Senator Barack Obama.
So far, at least, the list includes: Bob Farmer, who was Mr. Kerry’s chief fundraiser; Mark Gorenberg, Mr. Kerry’s top money man in California; and Alan Solomont, a major fundraiser in New England for Mr. Kerry and a former national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Orin Kramer, a prominent New York Democratic fundraiser, has also signed on with Mr. Obama.
Mr. Kramer, one of the top Democratic fundraisers in New York, has been a solid supporter of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaigns, but he said in an interview that he was attracted by Mr. Obama’s strengths (and not put off by any perceived weaknesses of Mrs. Clinton). He declined to get into details, but, in general, he sounded awfully excited about Mr. Obama’s potential and the freshness of his candidacy.

[rinsd]

1. Obama is putting together quite a team. (nt)

[Alhena]

4. Turns out Oren Kramer is a mega-fundraiser too ...

a google search revealed Kramer on a top 10 list of political powerbrokers and said he was someone whose "ring all Democratic presidential contenders must kiss."

Kramer and Solomont are two very heavy-hitters it looks like.

[rinsd]

8. This is very encouraging

No amateur hour bS here.

[racaulk]

2. Interesting, I would have thought they would have joined the Edwards camp.

But good for Obama! :applause:

[Kelvin Mace]

3. I would consider anyone from the Kerry camp

the kiss of death.

[Alhena]

5. They are both national fundraisers- among the top in the country

they've both been heavily involved with Bill Clinton and many other candidates throughout the years. They are two of the biggest fish out there- google their names and you'll get a lot of hits.

[rinsd]

10. Fundraising wasn't an issue with Kerry. (nt)

[corkhead]

17. Flamebait!

:rofl: :popcorn:

[Alhena]

6. Wow- turns out Farmer was Bill Clinton's chief fundraiser ...

in this article on Solomont, it mentions the following:

"Dukakis's fundraiser, Bob Farmer, became the head of fundraising for Bill Clinton, and in '92, he introduced me to the governor of Arkansas, who was running for president," Solomont says. "And of course, like many others, I fell in love with him."

http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2005/10/27/Features/Seeking.A.new.And.Better.World.Through.The.Art.Of.Politics-1491857.shtml?sourcedomain=www.tuftsdaily.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

So these three men are all national-level top fundraisers and they are ALL closely associated with Bill Clinton. This is a huge story, IMO that they are supporting Obama and not Hillary.

[Alhena]

7. And Gorenberg is listed as "one of the top fundraisers in the party"

At or near the top of the list is Mark Gorenberg , a San Francisco venture capitalist who is one of the party's top fund-raisers.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/09/kerrys_barnstorming_sparks_talk_of_a_run/?page=2

Sorry for all the multiple posts, but Google kept revealing new info about each of these 4 men as being among the top Democratic fundraisers in the country. Exciting news, considering recent indications that Hillary was hurting Obama's fundraising.

[David Dunham]

9. Obama isn't going to make it. As with Gary Hart, where's the beef (ideas)?

[Alhena]

11. Not invading Iraq was a pretty good idea, the other candidates

had the opposite idea. By far, the most important role of the president is commander in chief. I trust his judgment over that of the other candidates.

[regnaD kciN]

12. Try reading his book...

...instead of recycling '80s slogans from one of our most pathetic campaigns.

:eyes:

[knight_of_the_star]

13. How about LEGISLATIVE successes

You know, him being a member of the Senate he should have some legislative successes and record to run on. Anyone can write and publish a book if they have the right connections, anyone can say lots of nice-sounding stuff, but what really matters is what one has done, not what one has said.

Needless to say on the IWR, he wasn't even in the Senate, so for all we know that statement he wouldn't have dragged us into Iraq is hindsight.

[karynnj]

20. There were extremely few Democratic success in

2005 and 2006. It is very hard to pass legislation when you are in the minority and are a very junior Senator.

What are Clinton's and Edwards' list of legislation.

[knight_of_the_star]

22. Nice dodge

Regardless, what has he done as far as real legislative successes to back up his big ideas and his big talk? No strawman, no red herring, just what has OBAMA done aside from giving a nice speech and having a book published? He hasn't even finished his first term in the Senate, not even close to doing so, and he's already going to run. What does he have to run on?

[knight_of_the_star]

14. Nothin to say?

That's fine, there isn't much more in Obama's record.

[karynnj]

19. Gary Hart was an excellent candidate

His problem was not depth, ideas or vision. It was Donna Rice.

Even out of office, Gary Hart and Warren Rudman wrote an insightful report on terrorism that was finished in early 2001 - and ignored by the Bushies.

[Imagevision]

15. Don't forget to add Oprah Winfrey and George Sorros...

[IndianaGreen]

16. "Mr. Obama’s potential and the freshness of his candidacy."

Orin Kramer's assessment of the expected Obama campaign is very similar to my own, Obama represents the future while Hillary, Biden, Dodd, et al, represent the past.

[PATRICK]

18. If one were an armchair

speculator one might hazard a wild opinion that liberal to progressive forces are centering on Obama to counter Hillary with Kerry benignly tilted out from the race. Surprising and unlikely, but if Gore doesn't get in the race and Edwards doesn't attract more support like this, one might wonder.

[karynnj]

21. It does look like the Kerry people

are chosing Obama - and I'm not suprised.

I am impressed that Obama, like Kerry, is in favor of real ethics reform - even when we are in the majority.

Obama is not strong on foreign policy, but I bet his goals and principles are a closer match to Kerry than Edwards' or Hillary's are.

The Clinton people have been attacking Kerry and his campaign for 2 years and it may be that the nastiness of the "heyjohn" stuff may have affected the people working/supporting Kerry just like it did us DU JK people. I wasn't always ABH.

[_dynamicdems]

23. You know, I feel the same way.

Last year, Kerry held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's Senate reelection campaign and netted her a quarter of a million dollars. They have known each other for years. Then she pulled a McCain and stabbed her "good friend" in the back over what anyone with half a brain knew was a botched joke.

I'd had my reservations about HRC before that, but that really cinched it.

It's funny that prior to Kerry's backing out, the media was making implications that he didn't have the big fundraisers, that they had been sucked up by Hillary. Interesting to note that these big guns were Kerry's until he decided not to run. It is also interesting that they are getting on board with Obama. I wonder if they feel the same way about loyalty being part and parcel of integrity as we do.