With friends like these… - fund-raisers for Republican presidential candidates

Common Cause Magazine, Summer, 1995 by Vicki Kemper

If, as Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) said in announcing his campaign for the presidency, "The most reliable friend you can have in American politics ... is ready money," a politician's second-best friend must be the person who raises it.

With that in mind, here's a look at some of the Republican presidential candidates' closest friends:

In addition to "ready money," Gramm's got one of the country's most experienced political fundraisers. Wealthy Florida mega-developer Alec Courtelis has raised millions of dollars for GOP presidential candidates, from John Connally to George Bush. Courtelis also gives generously from his own deep pockets; in 1988 he contributed $100,000 to the Republicans' Team 100 (the club for $100,000 soft-money donors) and then took over the high-stakes operation, which raised $25 million to help elect Bush. By 1991 Courtelis had given another $57,500 to GOP soft-money efforts and was named co-chair of the national finance committee for Bush-Quayle '92. Gramm's other money magnets include Thomas "Dusty" Rhodes, a funder of such conservative causes as the National Review and New York Gov. George Pataki.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole has assembled an impressive line-up of fund-raising pros and several Team 100 alums. John Moran, a New York entrepreneur who had been serving as the Republican National Committee's (RNC) national finance chair, heads Dole's money team. Apparently Moran believes in spending money to make it; last fall he led a 40-person trade mission to China, financed by almost $200,000 in RNC cash. Top Team 100 contributor Lodwrick Cook of ARCO, who funneled more than $862,000 to the RNC from 1988 to '92 and raised millions more, is a Dole finance team co-chair. Another top RNC fundraiser, cosmetics maven and political spouse Georgette Mosbacher, is deputy finance chair.

Lamar Alexander, meanwhile, has gone straight to the source. In February the former education secretary and Tennessee governor crashed a private retreat for Team 100 members in Aspen, Colo., playground of the rich and famous. (No word on whether he wore his trademark plaid flannel shirt to the soiree.) Alexander has pledges of support from no fewer than six former RNC finance chairs, including Team 100 member Lawrence Bathgate and Tennessee real estate tycoon and chief money-raiser Ted Welch, who some consider the best in the business.

In Sam Katz, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has tapped some local talent to head his fundraising efforts. Katz runs a Philadelphia firm that arranges stadium deals between cities and professional sports teams. As an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in the governor's race last year, Katz proposed school vouchers and the sale of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

It was friends with money who apparently convinced California Gov. Pete Wilson to get into the race. Explaining why he had broken his campaign pledge not to run for president while he was governor, Wilson said he had been able to "discount" the many "flattering comments" he had received urging him to run. "But when they offer to raise money for you," he added, "... that puts a different light on it." Especially when, as in Wilson's case, you first have to retire a $1.5 million debt from your gubernatorial campaign. Massachusetts Gov. William Weld is leading Wilson's fundraising efforts, and he's being assisted by former Texas Gov. William Clements and California billionaire and Team 100 member Donald Bren.

Right-wing talkmeister Pat Buchanan, meanwhile, has been complaining that he has a harder time than "professional politicians" in raising the big bucks. But once again his sister, Bay Buchanan, will be at his side.

Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar is also way behind in the money chase, but says he's "not going to be preoccupied with that subject" and plans to hold "lots of fund-raisers." The Indianapolis Star, seeking to boost the chances of its local son, suggests that if the 1 million Hoosiers who voted Lugar into the Senate each contributed $20 to his presidential bid they might change the course of the Republican primaries. As it is, the paper editorialized, "We probably will be stuck with the choice between the two best fundraisers, not the two best candidates."

RELATED ARTICLE: All In the Family

While her husband was beginning his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Wendy Lee Gramm was working behind the scenes to promote the Republicans' "Contract With America." Gramm is on the steering committee of Project Relief, the powerful business coalition led by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) that lobbied heavily - even writing some provisions - for anti-regulation legislation.

"Wendy served as a resource, as someone with firsthand experience in the regulatory field," says Project Relief chair Brace Gates. According to a Project Relief list, Gramm is affiliated with something called the Center for Regulatory Studies, yet no one - including Gates - seems to have heard of it. Gramm did not respond to numerous requests for comment.