By The Prowler on 2.21.07 @ 12:08AM
Jeb Bush operatives move toward Romney. Can McCain still attract money?
THE JEB-MITT PIPELINE
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may yet jump into the
presidential race in some way before everything is said and done,
say some supporters, but if he does, it will be to the detriment of
the man he has been steering many of his top-flight staff and
supporters.
As it stands, Florida's former Lt. Gov. Toni
Jennings, former house speaker Allan
Bense, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, who was
Bush's 1994 gubernatorial running mate, two former state party
chairmen, Van Poole and Al
Cardenas, and Bush's former press secretary,
Kristy Campbell, and former campaign manager and
chief of staff Sally Bradshaw all have signed on
with Romney.
And Bradshaw, according to Romney insiders, is continuing to
recruit Jeb acolytes to the Romney cause. Many will be attending
the Romney fundraiser in Washington on February 27th. "No one is
endorsing anyone right now," says a Romney fundraiser, who was
encouraged to look at Romney by the former Florida governor for
whom he also raised money. "But I wouldn't be working for Mitt if I
hadn't been steered in that direction."
While some social conservatives are balking at Romney, others
are looking at the way Jeb Bush has been helping him, and see it as
a sign that Romney is the real deal on social issues. Others aren't
so sure how to interpret it.
"I know where Jeb stands, because he's been consistent," says
one Jeb supporter, who has thus far blunted pressure from her
former colleagues to sign on with Romney. "I worry that if Jeb
decides to get into the race in some way, or down the road, that
his perceived support of Romney will hurt him with the base if
Romney fails to gain the support of social conservatives."
A FEW DOLLARS SHORT
There is talk in Republican fundraising circles that while Sen.
John McCain's take for the first quarter of 2007
in political dollars will blow the doors off of just about every
other Republican candidate, his Federal Election Commission filing
may be filled with a few surprises: namely, that smaller donors and
direct mail donors are not responding to McCain's entreaties for
support.
"You also hear that he's not getting the same kind of support
from New York types and Hollywood types that he has in the past,"
says a fundraiser for another campaign. McCain is expected to hold
a major New York event before the end of the first quarter, with an
internal goal set at more than $2 million.
Such a haul would be surprising, given the way that Sen.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has been trying to corner
the fundraising market from Wall Street and the business community
in New York.
"Right now, the only other candidate who can go toe to toe with
Hillary here in New York is Rudy
[Giuliani]," says a Democrat fundraiser in
Manhattan. "Over the years, he's done a lot more for these people
than Hillary has done. He has the ties that bind to these folks
that people like McCain don't have."
Similar things could be said for Giuliani and Hollywood, where
last week it was rumored that Brad Grey, the
chairman and CEO of Paramount, and formerly an agent to a number of
high-profile actors and actresses, was signing on as a fundraiser
for "America's Mayor" in Los Angeles.
topics:
John McCain, Business, Hollywood, NATO
