Subject: Re: Million-dollar donors lift Jeb Bush's presidential ambitions - Yahoo News
From: "Alexander S. Mackler" <[email-masked]>
To: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Joshua Alcorn" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 21:20:20 -0400

Hunter, if you really want to know what I think? Going off of nothing but
my own reflections/ravings and conversations with the voices in my head:

We're not raising enough money even with a SuperPAC, whatever the $$ amount
is that's needed. And if the broader message of the campaign is--
"Look, I'm doing this my way (cough, the *right* way). I'm not starting a
SuperPAC and going to beg at the feet of a handful of billionaires because
that makes a mockery of the very word 'democracy.' One of my earliest acts
as a senator was a constitutional amendment on campaign finance. And I'm
not going to go to Iowa and NH, two great states who are entirely
unrepresentative of our nation and, particularly, my party. (softer: it's
too late for me to organize there, so I'm passing). I'm starting in South
Carolina, a state that more broadly reflects our country. I won't be
bankrolled by a handful of billionaires; I won't speak down to the American
people or appeal to the lowest common denominator. I'm gonna do this like
you and I know it should be done: honest, straightforward, and clear. In
short, I'm gonna be Joe Biden."

Maybe that's not the message, but it's the one I like the most and is,
selfishly, the most fun and refreshing. But if that is the message, and
even with a SuperPAC we can't close the gap, then let's do it the right way
and go for glory.  If Bernie can raise $15m on $2,700 and small-dollar, we
can't raise enough to get from October to SC?

The downsides are obvious: what good is the moral high ground if you can't
raise the money to reach the starting line, let alone last? And the fact
that you could get ignored in the weeks leading up to Iowa/NH, like
Guiliani did. (That's buffered a bit by the bully pulpit that comes with
being VP.)

But the upside, to me at least, outweighs it: first of all, I don't think
even playing by the new sleazy rules can we raise near as much as her or
Jeb. What happens if we do a SuperPAC and raise something paltry, like
Rand? There is a virtue to lowering fundraising expectations--and if it
happens to jibe with our "honest" message, then, well, conscience and
convenience.
And if we can't get it done, then in the end he did it his way, stays
consistent with his 40+ year history, and instead of being a 3-time loser
he's the guy who finished his public career on a high: telling folks how it
really is, playing it straight, and being the leader everyone can be proud
of. If we lose, the amount of time spent campaigning is relatively brief
and he still gets back to the WH with enough time to complete his run as
the most successful VP in modern history. And most importantly, he did it
his way.

But what the hell do I know, I'm not the one who has to raise the money.

On Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 8:26 PM, Eric Schwerin <[email-masked]
> wrote:

> Has anyone figured out the number needed for 10/1-South Carolina?  What's
> the budget?
>
> Eric D. Schwerin
> [email-masked]
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jul 29, 2015, at 8:16 PM, Hunter Biden <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> So what do we do? If we compress our time frame from 10/1 through SC how
> do we get from here to there? Not through "online" contributions or $2,400
>  checks. It is disgusting but what's our play?
>
> RHB
> 202.333.1880
>
> On Jul 29, 2015, at 8:11 PM, Alexander S. Mackler <[email-masked]>
> wrote:
>
> No bullshit, this disgusts me.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Jul 29, 2015, at 2:20 PM, Eric Schwerin <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/million-dollar-donors-lift-jeb-bushs-presidential-ambitions-180425534--election.html
>
> Million-dollar donors lift Jeb Bush's presidential ambitions
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen million-dollar contributors account for at least
> 10 percent of Jeb Bush's record-setting presidential fundraising haul.
>
> The big-money boosters propelled Right to Rise, a super PAC dedicated to
> helping Bush win the Republican nomination, to its $103 million total in
> the first six month of the year. Separately, Bush's official campaign,
> limited to contributions of $2,700 or less per donor, raised $11.4 million.
> The super PAC faces no fundraising restrictions but cannot directly
> coordinate with Bush even as it spends money on his behalf.
>
> The leading Bush donor, who gave $3 million, is Miguel "Mike" Fernandez, a
> billionaire health care investor in Miami. He's one of about 12 people who
> gave $1 million or more each to the super PAC.
>
> Fernandez and other donor identities were confirmed with a source familiar
> with Right to Rise's fundraising efforts; the person asked for anonymity
> because the donor names won't be disclosed until reports are filed Friday
> with federal regulators.
>
> Until Bush declared his candidacy on June 15, he traveled the country
> meeting with Right to Rise donors and speaking at its fundraising events.
> As an official candidate, he's now focused on raising money that his
> campaign will directly control. He left the super PAC in the hands of Mike
> Murphy, one of his most trusted advisers, who is based in Los Angeles.
>
> Super PAC officials have said 9,400 of their roughly 9,900 donors gave
> $25,000 or less. Throughout much of the year, Right to Rise limited donors
> to gifts of $1 million so that the super PAC wouldn't be overwhelmed by one
> huge donor; that self-imposed cap lifted the day Bush entered the race.
>   View gallery
>
> <http:///photos/photo-taken-nov-16-2006-richard-d-kinder-photo-180425430--election.html>
> In this photo taken Nov. 16, 2006, Richard D. Kinder, left, and his wife
> Nancy attend a Houston Rock …
>
> A core group of 12 men and two women makes up the super PAC's executive
> committee — and shows Bush's appeal to some of the Republican Party's most
> influential and longest-serving presidential fundraisers. Each has either
> personally given $1 million, or helped raise at least that amount, for
> Right to Right.
>
> Many are longtime associates of the Bush family, which already includes
> two presidents.
>
> Nancy Kinder, president of the Kinder Foundation, a philanthropy in
> Houston, and her husband, billionaire energy executive Richard Kinder,
> helped raise money for the presidential campaigns of Bush's father and
> brother. Jeanne Phillips, senior vice president of Hunt Consolidated Inc.,
> led President George W. Bush's inaugural committees.
>
> Other core Jeb Bush fundraisers were instrumental in 2012 GOP nominee Mitt
> Romney's campaign. Chicago investors Craig Duchossois and Muneer Satter
> raised and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Romney's bid.
>
> Romney's campaign finance director, Mason Fink, is the leading fundraiser
> for Right to Rise.
>
> __
>
> Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
>
>
>
>
>
> Eric D. Schwerin
> RSP Investments, LLC
> 1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW Suite 715
> Washington, DC 20007
> (202) 446-0493
> [email-masked]
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Alexander Snyder Mackler
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