Rudy Guiliani’s Presidential campaign made an unfortunate mistake and misplaced their 180 page comprehensive plan. It fell into the hands of a Republican that is sympathetic to one of Rudy’s rivals and they turned it over to the New York Daily News.
The remarkably detailed dossier sets out the budgets, schedules and fund-raising plans that will underpin the former New York mayor’s presidential campaign – as well as his aides’ worries that personal and political baggage could scuttle his run.
At the center of his efforts: a massive fund-raising push to bring in at least $100 million this year, with a scramble for at least $25 million in the next three months alone.
The loss of the battle plan is a remarkable breach in the high-stakes game of presidential politics and a potentially disastrous blunder for Giuliani in the early stages of his campaign.
I’m sure the entire dossier is fascinating. But the part that caught my eye concerned fundraising. I am going to quote it at length.
The detailed fund-raising plans depict a campaign scrambling to catch up with the organizational advantage of Giuliani’s Republican rivals, particularly Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Some of the leading figures in American business and finance appear as the “prospective leadership” of Giuliani’s campaign, and their names appear elsewhere with instructions for Giuliani to call and seek their support. Two of the top figures on Giuliani’s list, New Jersey mega-fund-raisers Lew Eisenberg and Larry Bathgate, have already signed on with McCain, as has another Giuliani target, FedEx CEO Fred Smith.
In a memo that appears in the dossier, Giuliani aides Dickerson and Roy Bailey urge him to court financier Henry Kravis particularly avidly.
“You need him to be a Wall Street industry leader,” the memo says.
McCain announced Kravis’ support last month.
The plan also anticipates his recruiting top GOP fund-raiser Cathy Blaney in New York on a retainer of $260,000 and her Florida counterpart, Ann Herberger, at $216,000. But between the plan’s preparation in the fall and today, Blaney became the chief fund-raiser for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, while Herberger reportedly has signed on to the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Other business leaders targeted by Giuliani remain publicly uncommitted: Paramount CEO Brad Grey, Giuliani’s talent agent after 9/11, is envisioned as leading a “celebrities” fund-raising arm; former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton would raise money from professional athletes. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, PepsiCo chief Dawn Hudson and Goldman Sachs president Lloyd Blankfein are also listed as “industry leaders.”
The documents depict hedge fund tycoon Paul Singer, a close Giuliani ally, playing a central role in his fund-raising operation.
I don’t notice any plan in there for raising money from ordinary people. You know, farmers, construction workers, country doctors, small businesswomen. I see a bunch of ‘Wall Street industry leaders’. I’d like to see the Republicans figure out the power of people-powered politics. But that is just not going to happen. Rudy Guiliani’s plans may have been compromised by this catastrophic leak, but it shows pretty clearly how you go about becoming the GOP nominee for President.
Giuliani fund-raiser Dickerson served as a deputy to the chief fund-raiser of George Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, and the papers suggest Giuliani will model at least the fund-raising portion of his campaign explicitly on Bush’s. Several pages appear to be Bush-Cheney campaign internal budget documents and are marked “confidential.”
Bush divided his main fund-raisers into “Rangers,” who raised at least $200,000 each, and “Pioneers,” who raised $100,000. Giuliani’s metaphor is baseball: “Team Captains” are responsible for $1 million each in contributions, and “MVPs” bring in $200,000 each. Bush’s “Pioneers” become Giuliani’s “All-Stars,” and those who raise $50,000 are “Sluggers.”
The Republicans make pretenses to being the party of the south, of the religiously conservative, of the midwest…but they are really just the party of FedEx, Goldman Sachs, PepsiCo., Paramount, and News Corp. I wish more people really understood the true nature of the Republican Party.
I’d like to see the Republicans figure out the power of people-powered politics.
On the Republican side of the aisle, that’s called a “lynch mob”. Let’s hope they stick to whoring themselves out to the highest bidder. They’re less dangerous that way.
“The Republicans make pretenses to being the party of the south, of the religiously conservative, of the midwest…but they are really just the party of FedEx, Goldman Sachs, PepsiCo., Paramount, and News Corp. I wish more people really understood the true nature of the Republican Party.”
Hey man, you got that one damn straight! They never have been for the ppl…only the rich….never will be and as far as I know they never have been. What jerks…..Yes they always do tend to leave the rest of us out of their grand plans except for burying us six feet under, and that goes for the rich friend they all have…they do not care about the rest of us ppl out here.
Boy was this an error in the grandest scheme of it all!
I wish that somehow or other we could shout this from the rooftops or, better yet, over the PA speakers at Wal-Mart. If Joe Sixpack understood this one simple truth, he would never vote Republican again.
This should be part of every Democrat’s campaign arsenal: “The Republicans say they care about you, but all they care about is your money. They only care about you if you have a seven-figure bank balance.”
Boiled down to six words or less, of course.
Whenever I tell a poor Republican that their party doesn’t really care about them, there’s a lot of hedging, then the person (dimwit, IMO) starts going on about social issues. I’m sorry, but last I checked my abortion or gay marriage isn’t affecting your minimum wage job. KWIM?
Sounds like the Republicans same old plan: pretend to represent the interests of everyday Americans, while shaking down wealthy elites for massive amounts of money in order to literally purchase the office of president. It was George Walker Bush’s plan. Believe me, he didn’t get there by earning his way to office.
Same, too, for most Republican presidents. They just out-and-out try to overwhelm their opponents with money and other resources provided by their wealthy elite friends (for instance virtual in-kind contributions from mass media moguls in terms of how they sweeten up to the Republicans while shamelessly trashing their Democratic counterparts (George Walker Bush vs. Al Gore is one of the more blatant examples of how Republicans supplemented their massive financial advantage with their massive in-kind mass media resources (unreported as a campaign asset).
Yep…sure looks to me like Rudy Giuliani plans to shamelessly pander to the wealthy elites in an attempt to virtually purchase the office of president. Wonder whose interests he would serve should he succeed in doing so?
This discovery is a very good illustration of why Federal Election finance reform is so terribly necessary. It also speaks about the improbability of such reform ever occurring. If the Dems really want to make their mark, they should push for election/lobbying reform to take Big Money off the table. Should I hold my breath??
Edwards has taken a strong stand FOR public financing of elections. I think he’ll get creamed for that – all the more reason for those of us who believe its important to “have his back” on that one.
2008 so far; however, everything Edwards has done since 2004 seems to resonate with me. Wasn’t a big fan of his in 2004, but didn’t dislike him either. Of all of the prospective Democratic candidates for ’08, he hes impressed me with each new step, each new comment and each new speech. Am warming up to him, based on what appears to be a very thoughtful, competent and genuine approach he’s been taking so far.
Great summary Boo.
But other than your point, it makes me think that these “Team Captains”, “All-Stars”, “MVP’s”, and “Sluggers” know that its time NOW to weigh in with their support. We sometimes think its too early to do so, but these guys know that EMILY’s list has a point about “early money.”
Interesting stuff, very interesting. I wonder what the fallout from that leak will be for his campaign. I don’t really think that he is a credible contender for the G.O.P. nomination but it looks like he isn’t hitting his targets.
PS I’ll be out of the country for a few weeks, so no Pub Quiz for me