Romney Makes It Official and Asks for ’08 Cash in a Big Way
Romney Makes It Official and Asks for ’08 Cash in a Big Way
BOSTON, Jan. 8 — Presidential campaign fund-raising operations are usually run well out of public sight, reflecting their status as essential, if slightly unseemly, requirements for running for the White House
That is what made what happened here early Monday morning striking. Over 400 people, including corporate executives, governors, wealthy Republican donors and party operatives, gathered around telephones and computer screens stretched out over a huge convention center room for a day of public fund-raising on behalf of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who created a presidential exploratory committee last week. Television camera crews and reporters circled the room as Mr. Romney’s aides provided a running tally of how much had been raised.
For Mr. Romney, this high-tech fund-raiser, with new fund-raising software rolled out to mark the occasion, amounted to a public declaration for the White House, as he marched out with his family for his first major event since leaving the Statehouse.
And as Mr. Romney announced at day’s end that he had drawn a $6.5 million one-day haul in cash and commitments, it was also a striking example of just how important fund-raising has become as a test for presidential viability, this year more than most, with the race dominated by high-profile candidates, most of whom are unlikely to participate in the public financing system.
“This has never been done before,” Mr. Romney said, standing in the middle of an elaborate set, a wireless microphone planted on his body. “This is the most advanced technology ever employed as a fund-raising effort.”
Politically, the display of fund-raising and organizational prowess was intended to put Mr. Romney back on the map after a tough month in which his conservative credentials have come under attack because of questions about his evolving positions on abortion and gay rights. If the immediate audience for this fund-raising event were his own supporters and the press, it was aimed just as much at other prospective Republican candidates. Those include Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, but also some lesser-known candidates on the right, like Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arizona, who have been emboldened at the sight of Mr. Romney struggling.
“It’s going to send a strong message to McCain as well as to Giuliani, but also to all those other guys who might be thinking of getting in,” said Thomas R. Tellefsen, who was recruited from the upper ranks of President Bush’s fund-raisers to spend a day sitting in front of a computer screen.
Spencer Zwick, a longtime Romney associate who is now his national finance director, said: “We do know in political fund-raising, money talks, but early money screams. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
No expense was spared for “The National Call Day” in the gleaming new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Callers were delivered boxed lunches at their seats. Huge video screens displayed a biographical film of Mr. Romney, who dutifully emphasized his opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage. The software, based on programs used by telemarketing sales forces, was designed exclusively for Mr. Romney and called ComMITT.
“People are waiting to see Ed McMahon flash up the latest number on the tote board,” said Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire Republican leader who is a senior adviser to Mr. Romney.
The Romney campaign, indulging in a rather old trick from the political book, started off the day with a low-ball prediction that they would gather $1 million in pledges and commitments. With a group this large, and this well connected, a take like that would have been disappointing, so the final result gave Mr. Romney a chance to come out and announce he was “blown away” by the outcome.
Mr. Romney’s supporters came armed with lists of friends and, in the case of politicians, their own contributors. A lot of internal planning had gone into the day, so the recipients of calls asking for donations of $2,100, the legal limit, were not surprised. And Mr. Romney was certainly not taking any chances. When it came time for him to make a fund-raising call, piped over the loudspeaker and in front of a crush of cameras, he chose to call his older sister, Lynn Keenan, at her home outside Detroit.
Still the image of, say, the governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, sitting at one table, and the head of a major corporation dialing for dollars was certainly unusual.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, in a break from her callers. “I start out by saying: ‘You won’t believe where I am! I’m at the Boston Convention Center with four or five hundred other people dialing for contributions for Mitt Romney.’ ”
The figure put out by Mr. Romney includes pledges as well as checks, Mr. Romney’s aides said they were confident that most of that money would also come in. It also was the result of going after what Mr. Tellefsen called “low-hanging fruit.”
Mr. Romney laughed when asked if he thought the campaign would be able to keep up this pace, though he characterized it as an affirmation of the potential appeal of a candidate who remains relatively little-known outside Republican circles.
“I don’t think $6.5 million a day is likely to be sustained,” he said, adding, “This is not a big flash and disappearance.”
Mr. Romney’s advisers have said they would like to raise around $100 million before the primaries. With the presidential primary contests coming fast and early next year, there is a premium on candidates’ raising money as quickly as possible so they can leave the telephones and be free to do public events in early primary states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/us/politics/09romney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
BOSTON, Jan. 8 — Presidential campaign fund-raising operations are usually run well out of public sight, reflecting their status as essential, if slightly unseemly, requirements for running for the White House
That is what made what happened here early Monday morning striking. Over 400 people, including corporate executives, governors, wealthy Republican donors and party operatives, gathered around telephones and computer screens stretched out over a huge convention center room for a day of public fund-raising on behalf of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who created a presidential exploratory committee last week. Television camera crews and reporters circled the room as Mr. Romney’s aides provided a running tally of how much had been raised.
For Mr. Romney, this high-tech fund-raiser, with new fund-raising software rolled out to mark the occasion, amounted to a public declaration for the White House, as he marched out with his family for his first major event since leaving the Statehouse.
And as Mr. Romney announced at day’s end that he had drawn a $6.5 million one-day haul in cash and commitments, it was also a striking example of just how important fund-raising has become as a test for presidential viability, this year more than most, with the race dominated by high-profile candidates, most of whom are unlikely to participate in the public financing system.
“This has never been done before,” Mr. Romney said, standing in the middle of an elaborate set, a wireless microphone planted on his body. “This is the most advanced technology ever employed as a fund-raising effort.”
Politically, the display of fund-raising and organizational prowess was intended to put Mr. Romney back on the map after a tough month in which his conservative credentials have come under attack because of questions about his evolving positions on abortion and gay rights. If the immediate audience for this fund-raising event were his own supporters and the press, it was aimed just as much at other prospective Republican candidates. Those include Senator John McCain of Arizona and Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, but also some lesser-known candidates on the right, like Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arizona, who have been emboldened at the sight of Mr. Romney struggling.
“It’s going to send a strong message to McCain as well as to Giuliani, but also to all those other guys who might be thinking of getting in,” said Thomas R. Tellefsen, who was recruited from the upper ranks of President Bush’s fund-raisers to spend a day sitting in front of a computer screen.
Spencer Zwick, a longtime Romney associate who is now his national finance director, said: “We do know in political fund-raising, money talks, but early money screams. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
No expense was spared for “The National Call Day” in the gleaming new Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Callers were delivered boxed lunches at their seats. Huge video screens displayed a biographical film of Mr. Romney, who dutifully emphasized his opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage. The software, based on programs used by telemarketing sales forces, was designed exclusively for Mr. Romney and called ComMITT.
“People are waiting to see Ed McMahon flash up the latest number on the tote board,” said Tom Rath, a veteran New Hampshire Republican leader who is a senior adviser to Mr. Romney.
The Romney campaign, indulging in a rather old trick from the political book, started off the day with a low-ball prediction that they would gather $1 million in pledges and commitments. With a group this large, and this well connected, a take like that would have been disappointing, so the final result gave Mr. Romney a chance to come out and announce he was “blown away” by the outcome.
Mr. Romney’s supporters came armed with lists of friends and, in the case of politicians, their own contributors. A lot of internal planning had gone into the day, so the recipients of calls asking for donations of $2,100, the legal limit, were not surprised. And Mr. Romney was certainly not taking any chances. When it came time for him to make a fund-raising call, piped over the loudspeaker and in front of a crush of cameras, he chose to call his older sister, Lynn Keenan, at her home outside Detroit.
Still the image of, say, the governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, sitting at one table, and the head of a major corporation dialing for dollars was certainly unusual.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, in a break from her callers. “I start out by saying: ‘You won’t believe where I am! I’m at the Boston Convention Center with four or five hundred other people dialing for contributions for Mitt Romney.’ ”
The figure put out by Mr. Romney includes pledges as well as checks, Mr. Romney’s aides said they were confident that most of that money would also come in. It also was the result of going after what Mr. Tellefsen called “low-hanging fruit.”
Mr. Romney laughed when asked if he thought the campaign would be able to keep up this pace, though he characterized it as an affirmation of the potential appeal of a candidate who remains relatively little-known outside Republican circles.
“I don’t think $6.5 million a day is likely to be sustained,” he said, adding, “This is not a big flash and disappearance.”
Mr. Romney’s advisers have said they would like to raise around $100 million before the primaries. With the presidential primary contests coming fast and early next year, there is a premium on candidates’ raising money as quickly as possible so they can leave the telephones and be free to do public events in early primary states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/us/politics/09romney.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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