They are Pioneers and Rangers and dedicated workers for George Bush. But unlike most activists they are not out on the streets. Their hunting ground is the boardroom, the country club and the barbecue. And their aim is simple: raise money, lots of it.
They are so good at this, they are changing the face of presidential elections in the United States. In a country where money is vital to success at the ballot, Bush’s election machine has created a fund-raising network the like of which has not been seen before in US politics.
The campaigners are on course to raise up to $250 million for the President’s campaign war-chest, more than doubling the previous record that Bush himself set in 2000.
Big money contributors have always existed in the US, but Bush has institutionalised them. Those who raise $100,000 are dubbed Pioneers. Double that and you’re a Ranger. Bush has created a nationwide web of elite fund-raisers dedicated to pouring unprecedented amounts of cash into the coffers. And it looks as if the Democrats simply cannot compete.
‘It’s the sheer scale of it that is new,’ said Steve Weiss, of the non-partisan Centre for Responsive Politics. ‘People now practically beg to be Pioneers. It is a status thing and they can raise unbelievable sums of money.’
The network is made of wealthy men, and a handful of women, who dominate the business world. They are rich, Republican and have extensive family and corporate networks from which to tap cash.
Typical is the Egan clan of Massachusetts, whose wealth was won by Richard Egan, an electronics mogul. He was a Pioneer in 2000. This time around he and his sons have Ranger status. His is the only family in the US to notch up three Rangers and they have raised more money for Bush than any other family – they are dubbed the ‘First Family of Fund Raising’.
Their weapon is garden parties. In June, the Egans hosted a fund-raiser at their plush mansion in the quiet Boston suburb of Hopkinton. With US Vice President Dick Cheney in attendance, the gathering brought in a reported $1.2m.
‘They are not that public about it, it’s a family thing,’ said George Pillsbury, of the Massachusetts Money and Politics Project. The Egans, however, are big donors across Massachusetts state politics too, making hefty donations to candidates.
Certainly, their efforts seemed to have boosted their profile. From growing up in one of Boston’s Irish ghettos, Richard Egan became ambassador to Ireland in August 2001 – a high-profile job for an ex-marine who grew up in a poor household where his parents slept in the dining room.
A pattern of increasing Pioneer influence flows across the nation with the Pioneers of 2000 gaining positions of power. The tycoon Mercer Reynolds III raised $605,000 as a Pioneer in 2000 and is now the finance chairman for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. Three of Bush’s Cabinet posts have gone to Pioneers from the victorious Bush election campaign; they include the Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, and the Secretary of Labour, Elaine Chao. Also appointed from the Pioneers were a federal judge and at least four members of the Energy Department’s transition team, including former Enron boss Ken Lay.
None of this was meant to happen, and new laws try to keep money out of American politics. Just 18 months ago a stringent campaign finance law was passed that strictly limited the amount individuals could contribute to candidates – $2,000 a head. The growing influence of cash – blamed for America’s low turnout figures – was meant to be booted out of politics.
But Bush’s fund-raising network circumvents the rules. Although the Pioneers and Rangers are hugely wealthy, they do not contribute vast amounts from their own pockets. Instead they ‘bundle’ hundreds of friends and employees – each just pays the maximum, $2,000 dollars.
This bundling occurs at parties, fêtes, dinners and barbecues. Often the big draw is Bush or Cheney. Both men have spent much of the summer making guest appearances at such events, and it’s been lucrative. So far, Bush has raised at least $35m, about three times the amount gathered by the leading Democrat candidates.
Ironically, Bush’s runaway success could force the Democrats to scupper the finance reform laws they fought so hard to pass. Leading Democrats may now have to follow suit to stay in the race. ‘The Democrats shot themselves in the foot,’ Weiss said. ‘If they stay in the system they won’t be able to come close to Bush for raising money. If they opt out, they undermine the rules they wanted so badly.’
Critics say the reason for Bush’s success in generating cash is simple: money buys influence. Activists stress the rapid political rise of Pioneers and Rangers. Aside from Egan’s appointment, there is a long list of Pioneers-turned-diplomats:George Argyros, in real estate, is now ambassador to Spain; Stephen Brauer, president of a Missouri car firm, was posted to Belgium; Howard Leach, a billionaire financier, was sent to Paris. Other Pioneers have become ambassadors in countries stretching from Belize to Saudi Arabia and Slovakia. In all, 21 Pioneers became ambassadors, and in total 61 of Bush’s 551 Pioneers in the 2000 election were named in government posts.
There is no way to prove a direct link between fundraising and influence. But Andrew Wheat, of the campaigning group Texans for Public Justice, which monitors the Pioneer and Ranger networks, says: ‘You look at the money going in and the appointments coming out and, you can’t prove it, but they do look to be influencing each other.’
As the barbecue season closes, these revolutionaries, determined to win next year’s election for Bush, will not be stopping work. They will carry on – indoors – at the exclusive clubs, on the golf course, at the black-tie dinners. As the election looms thousands more donors will sign off their $2,000 cheques. The money will keep flowing.
Guardian Unlimited Â