The $75 Million Woman
Barack Obama's finance director helped transform a fledgling campaign into a fundraising machine
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post
On a frigid day in early January, Barack Obama rode the three blocks from the Capitol to a nondescript, four-story, white-brick building where he had rented a spartan office suite.
Obama pulled out a folding chair and sat down with Julianna Smoot, the veteran Democratic fundraiser he had hired to raise the millions of dollars he would need for a presidential bid. Smoot thumbed through a thin list of potential donors that Obama had gathered during his 2004 Senate bid in Illinois and as he helped other politicians raise money for elections in 2006. She frowned.
"It wasn't much to work with," Smoot recalled. "But that was how we started. He asked me what he should do, and I said, 'Start calling. And don't forget to ask for their credit card numbers.' "
That was the beginning of a fundraising juggernaut that, perhaps more than any other single factor, helped transform Obama into a serious contender for the presidency. By the end of September, the senator from Illinois had raised more money for his primary bid than any other candidate in either party -- more than $75 million. He did it not simply by using the new possibilities of the Internet, for which he has received considerable attention, but by creating almost overnight a network of "bundlers" -- a core group of motivated supporters with the Rolodexes to bring along friends and associates.
But last week, for the first time, Obama was eclipsed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who raised $22 million for the quarter to Obama's $19 million. Now, with Clinton widening her lead in national polls, Obama's ability to continue raising money will be seen as a crucial indicator of whether his candidacy can pick up momentum in time for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in January, or whether Clinton has become unstoppable.
Smoot, 40, the fast-talking daughter of a North Carolina golf pro, said she has never been fazed by the thought of competing with the most voracious Democratic fundraising team in recent memory, Bill and Hillary Clinton.
"I respect them. And I respect the people that work for them. But no, they're not intimidating at all," Smoot said last week.
(Continued here.)
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post
On a frigid day in early January, Barack Obama rode the three blocks from the Capitol to a nondescript, four-story, white-brick building where he had rented a spartan office suite.
Obama pulled out a folding chair and sat down with Julianna Smoot, the veteran Democratic fundraiser he had hired to raise the millions of dollars he would need for a presidential bid. Smoot thumbed through a thin list of potential donors that Obama had gathered during his 2004 Senate bid in Illinois and as he helped other politicians raise money for elections in 2006. She frowned.
"It wasn't much to work with," Smoot recalled. "But that was how we started. He asked me what he should do, and I said, 'Start calling. And don't forget to ask for their credit card numbers.' "
That was the beginning of a fundraising juggernaut that, perhaps more than any other single factor, helped transform Obama into a serious contender for the presidency. By the end of September, the senator from Illinois had raised more money for his primary bid than any other candidate in either party -- more than $75 million. He did it not simply by using the new possibilities of the Internet, for which he has received considerable attention, but by creating almost overnight a network of "bundlers" -- a core group of motivated supporters with the Rolodexes to bring along friends and associates.
But last week, for the first time, Obama was eclipsed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who raised $22 million for the quarter to Obama's $19 million. Now, with Clinton widening her lead in national polls, Obama's ability to continue raising money will be seen as a crucial indicator of whether his candidacy can pick up momentum in time for the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in January, or whether Clinton has become unstoppable.
Smoot, 40, the fast-talking daughter of a North Carolina golf pro, said she has never been fazed by the thought of competing with the most voracious Democratic fundraising team in recent memory, Bill and Hillary Clinton.
"I respect them. And I respect the people that work for them. But no, they're not intimidating at all," Smoot said last week.
(Continued here.)
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