Penny Pritzker Shows Why She Convinced Buffett to Support Obama

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



Penny Pritzker Shows Why She Convinced Buffett to Support Obama

By John Lippert

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Penny Pritzker was driving to Chicago's Midway Airport in June to meet Barack Obama when her cell phone rang.

She, the Obamas and campaign staff were flying to St. Paul, Minnesota, where Obama would proclaim himself the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Pritzker's 17-year-old son wanted to remind her to savor history in the making.

``Don called and said, `Don't do what you typically do, which is worry about the next thing you have to get done,''' recalls Pritzker, Obama's campaign finance chairwoman.

Don's hopes were dashed two days later. A photo showed a beaming Obama with his wife, Michelle, watching over his shoulder. They were riding in a freight elevator to address 32,000 fans crowding the Xcel Energy Center. Pritzker was staring down, typing an e-mail.

`I'm working on my BlackBerry, trying to respond to our supporters,'' Pritzker, 49, explains six weeks later at Chicago's Hyatt Center, headquarters for a family empire that her great- grandfather founded 106 years ago and is now worth as much as $40 billion.

If Obama makes it to the White House, some of the credit will go to Pritzker for organizing the best-financed campaign in U.S. history. She's tapped such wealthy donors as hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin and Warren Buffett, who was the main attraction at a pair of $28,500-per-person Chicago fundraisers in July.

And she's pulled in first-time contributors with their $5 pledges, generating an e-mail list of 5 million and counting. Obama raised $338 million through June compared with $212 million for Hillary Clinton, 60, and $136 million for John McCain, Federal Election Commission reports show. In July, Obama, 47, raised another $51 million and McCain, 71, tallied $27 million, their campaigns said. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=axiK.6j1c3IY&refer=home

[KoKo]

1. Interesting read....thanks...K&R