At the Wall Street Journal, writes of Priorities USA (a 501(c)(4) and Priorities USA Action (a super PAC). Bill Burton had hoped to raise $100 million but it falling short.
Many of the Democratic Party's biggest donors aren't planning to support his organization, either because they're unhappy with Mr. Obama or disillusioned with politics in general. There's also this fund-raising fact of life: Wealthy donors are more likely to open up their wallets to defeat a sitting president than to protect one.
Mr. Burton's group has spent less than $1 million on advertisements this year, while the leading pro-Republican organization has spent more than $20 million.And a financial shift continues. Bloomberg reports on Kenneth Griffin:
Mr. Burton, a former spokesman for Mr. Obama, said in an interview that potential donors don't always know who he is, which means he has to use meetings for introductions, not strictly for pitching.
Arthur Lipson, owner of hedge-fund management firm Western Investment, has donated more than $500,000 to Democratic causes in the past decade, according to public records. He hasn't heard from Mr. Burton, but an outreach probably wouldn't be worth the effort. "I will definitely not donate to Obama in any way, shape or form," said Mr. Lipson, who objects to deals the president has made with Republicans.
Chicago hedge fund executive Kenneth Griffin, who raised more than $50,000 for Barack Obama in 2008, said today he would back Mitt Romney in 2012.
“Mitt Romney understands that the private sector is the source of economic growth and job creation,” said Griffin, chief executive of the $11 billion Citadel LLC, in an e-mailed statement. “His ideas can help get America’s economy moving again and start putting people back to work.”
...This year, he gave $300,000 to American Crossroads, the political action committee advised by Karl Rove, the chief political aide to then-President George W. Bush. Griffin donated $250,000 last year. American Crossroads reported spending $21 million in 2010 to help elect Republican congressional candidates.
...
Romney has benefited from some dissatisfaction on Wall Street toward Obama, who signed new banking regulations last year. Romney raised $3.6 million through Sept. 30 from securities and investment industry employees and their families, more than double the $1.6 million taken in by Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.
Four years ago, Obama raised $16 million from Wall Street. Romney, who dropped out of the Republican race on Feb. 7, 2008, collected $5 million.
