Al Gore Hosting major fundraising event for DNC, uniting Obama and Clinton donors.

[ErinBerin84]

I thought that this was interesting, since Al Gore is seen as a "Democratic elder", but is a bit elusive and therefor subject to great speculation. I think this speaks well for things to come.

"Al Gore is set to do a major fundraising event uniting top Hillary and Obama donors on behalf of the Democratic National Committee on May 31st, a sign that the Dem fundraising establishment is beginning to unite and ramp up in earnest for the general election.

The event features prominent donors on both sides, as you can see if you click on the image of the invite (which was forwarded our way by a source) to enlarge...(click on link below to see invite)

Of those listed on the invite, Maureen White, Robert Zimmerman and Al Puchala are major Hillary backers. Meanwhile, Orin Kramer, Mitchell Draizing, Brian Mathis and Jamie Whitehead are Obama supporters.

There's a lot of chatter out there to the effect that the Republican National Committee is outraising its counterpart, the DNC, in advance of the general election.

While this won't mean that Obama won't have a financial advantage against McCain, given his astonishing fundraising success, Obama backers would of course like to see the DNC as flush as the RNC, and will be cheered by signs that the Dem donor and fundraising establishment is uniting -- in this case, with the help of Al Gore -- to gear up for the general.

For the privilege of attending this particular Gore event, donors are being asked to shell out up to $28,500 apiece."


Holy shit, that's a lot of money! The DNC deserves the money though. I think that it will obviously be easier to unite the "big money" donors, but I am all for steps towards unity in any fashion.



http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/bring_on_al_gore_and_the_other.php

[NJmaverick]

1. It's good to see things like this happening

It means that many people have not lost sight of the big picture.

[PoliticalAmazon]

16. Hate to rain on the parade BUT.....

linking to any kind of fundraising from the Clintons is like opening up a huge vacuum to the funds.

Their waste of campaign funds have been called "nearly fraudulent" by some. I would guess that each candidate's expenses for the fundraiser will be reimbursed off the top, and Obama--who is fiscally responsible--may see part of the funds that should have gone to his campaign siphoned off the top by the "nearly fraudulent" Clinton campaign expense practices.

I'm all for unity, but I don't want to be played as a chump by the "nearly fraudulent" Clinton campaign. They do that to their own supporters; they don't need to add Obama supporters to their list of chumps.

[CoffeeCat]

2. Al Gore is certainly...

...the person who can unite our party.

I have tremendous faith in his ability to bring this party together--to rally
around our nominee and defeat McCain and those criminal-thug neocons--and end
this nightmare once and for all.

[blogslut]

3. I like this

Sounds positive and productive. Good for Al and the DNC. :)

[gateley]

4. This is wonderful!

Moving beyond My Candidate vs Your Candidate to OUR Candidate vs the Republicans! :patriot:

[lisa58]

This sounds like really good news.

[PoliticalAmazon]

18. It will be like giving Hillary's campaign a free ride to the convention....

One of the pressures and advantages Obama has over the Clinton campaign is that they have wasted all of their campaign funds to the point where they can't pay for advance people to arrange her speaking engagements.

She is where she is because of her mismanagement of her funding and campaign. I don't want the Democratic Party to use Obama's considerable fundraising power to pay for Hillary's Bataan March to convention.

Sorry, I hate to be a wet blanket, but this whole idea stinks of Clinton manipulation.

If Obama gets involved with anything that has to do with the funding of her campaign, IMO it will speak profoundly to his lack of fiscal intelligence. You simply don't go into a joint venture with someone who blows financing and brings little to the table. It's a bad investment, and will only help the opponent.

[progressoid]

5. WTG Al!

[me b zola]

6. 8-)

:kick:

[smiley_glad_hands]

7. K&R. eom

[madfloridian]

8. Organized by Dean and the DNC to honor Al Gore

"Dean is organizing a May 31 fundraiser in Manhattan honoring Al Gore. The event is being chaired by Orin Kramer, one of Obama's top fundraisers, and by Maureen White, a longtime party fundraiser who has been assisting Clinton.

Last week, the Democratic National Committee announced both campaigns had signed a "joint fundraising agreement" creating a fund in which donations to each candidate could be pooled with contributions to the party and then used during the general election."

http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/nation/ny-uscamp5691202may18,0,3122680.story

[PoliticalAmazon]

19. Bullshit. It is being held to fund Hillary's attempts to fuck up the convention. n/t

[graycem]

9. Great news!

This is how it should be, and will help merge the two camps together.

[madfloridian]

10. Also today Dean is in Tampa meeting with top donors from both camps.

"The event is being hosted by Tampa lawyer Bill McBride, a Clinton supporter, and Frank Sanchez, a Tampa businessman and adviser to Obama. Some Democrats said Dean's appearance is an indication that the event is not just a fundraiser for the national party.

"It's more of a let's all sit down and begin the healing process so that we can all come together in November to defeat John McCain," said Ana Cruz, a Democratic consultant in Tampa who is supporting Clinton. "It's really an opportunity for folks to kind of vent a little bit and tell the chairman how we feel and then move forward."

Sanchez said there is no specific agenda for the gathering but he said he would be "surprised" if the delegate issue does not come up.

"I view this as just the beginning of getting our party together," he said."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080517/NEWS/805170524/0/FRONTPAGE

[Mabus]

11. That's my Al!

Always the statesman.

[Uncle Joe]

12. Kicked, too late to recommend

Thanks for the thread, ErinBerin84.

[Orsino]

13. Sounds like a good thing. Very Al, somehow.

I can see why he hasn't endorsed yet.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

14. Here's photo copy of the invitation

Curtesy of Talking Points Memo:

[MaineDem]

15. This money will come to the states

Excellent news!

[BlooInBloo]

17. Heh. He tried to get out, but they keep pulling him back in. lol!