According to [this](According to Opensecrets.org, as of April celebrity bundlers have already contributed some $6,950,000 to Obama’s campaign.) by April of 2012 celebrity bundlers had already raised about $6 million for Obama. George Clooney had a party that raised another $15, and Jay-z and Beyonce raised an additional $4 million later in the year.
I get the impression there were dozens of celebrity fundraiser dinners. If tickets were going for 20-40k each that could add up (but with individual limitations on donations to the candidate and the party there are only so many celebrities willing to write checks that big). But with dozens of dinners, if each is netting a few million that adds up to $100+ million just from celebrity bundlers.
Does anyone have figures on how much money was raised by celebrities and/or hollywood for Obama in 2008 or 2012? Are the amounts of money raised by celebrities high enough that they are up there with labor unions and corporations as a major source of campaign revenue?
I don’t have an answer to your question but presumably not everyone attending the fundraisers was a celebrity. Some were probably other Hollywood sorts not known to the general public and others were just wealthy Democrats. Presumably some people would contribute just to attend an event hosted by George Clooney or Jay-z.
I should assume that some rich celebs don’t give a hang about Mr. Obama, but were willing to excessively pay for a good dinner and to raise their profile to those who cast future films.
I doubt all the fabled riches of Hollywood could match two of the Brothers Koch ( pronounced coke ) who vowed — and may even have paid up — $60 million between them in 2012.
Earlier this year, the Huffington Post reported that Charles Koch has pledged to give $40 million to unseat Obama while David Koch has pledged $20 million. (Their friends and allies have also pledged to help them raise additional millions.) Neither brother has donated to super-PACs (which must disclose their donors), so presumably that money has gone to dark-money groups such as AFP. Which means that the $411,000 in disclosed donations is just the tip of an iceberg of undisclosed campaign money.
The $60 million the Kochs have reportedly vowed to spend isn’t much when you consider their total wealth. Each brother is worth an estimated $31 billion, according to Forbes, giving them a joint spot as America’s fourth richest individuals.
Mother Jones
For every major actor, model or whatever else counts as celebrity, there are 10 millionaire industrialists, heirs or traders who can outspend them. On both sides.
Clooney alone raised $15 million for Obama in 2012 by having a fundraiser at his house. So yeah the Koch brothers raised $60 million, but a few hundred dedicated wealthy celebrities could match that.
The problem with looking this info up is that it isn’t really covered anywhere. I’ve looked at Obama bundlers and this says that the celebrity bundlers only raised about 12 million in 2012. Clooney alone raised more than that.
By ‘celebrity’ I don’t just mean celebrities who donate money I also mean ones who use their star power to host fundraisers or bundle large donations to the campaign.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is 100 million or more, although that could be a stretch. If so, that would be 10% of all money raised by Obama.
Yeah, but it seems like 20 million for David Koch is about what he gives to trick or treaters. He gave the same amount to the dinosaur wing at the American Museum of Natural History and almost as much for a human origin exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. Of course, it’s chump change compared to the 100 million he gave for the New York ballet’s building renovation or the 750 million in donations for cancer research. I guess the point is, maybe he doesn’t care about the election quite as much as we think he does. Or, more specifically, he cares about it as much as cares about dinosaurs, but a lot less than ballet.
True, but the point remains that the richest mummer doesn’t have $20 million to spare on an election…
And to further your point note in that very Mother Jones link they instance the brother who quarreled with his siblings, William:
Donations to Restore Our Future Super-PAC = $2.75 million.
Amount he spent on a Billy the Kid photo in 2011 = $2.3 million.
Amount he’s unwittingly spent on counterfeit wine = At least $4 million.
It’s a good day to be a wine-dealer.
To be accurate, you have to be clear about just who the money was contributed to. Which you haven’t been so far.
For example, I believe the Clooney party was actually raising money for the Democratic National Committee. This is a separate group from the President’s campaign committee, and would be reported separately. Though obviously, they will spend it on electing democrats, headed by President Obama.
And besides, this one made the news because it was so extraordinarily successful – raising as much as 5 or 6 average celebrity-hosted events.
Your comments on the Koch brothers are off for the same reason. They have a whole network of groups that they fund. (Many of them are tax-exempt think tanks, meaning that the rest of us pay more taxes to cover this.) In the last election, these Koch groups spent $400 million – about 27 times what Clooney’s event raised. Not n the same league at all.
Finally, ‘bundling’ is a specific (illegal) campaign finance activity. And from the descriptions given, none of these celebrity-hosted events committed any bundling.
To show this is not just one side ( although the crazy is strong on the right-wing, mounting with their greater wealth ) , the Democrats have billionaires using the same influence through funding tactic too.
Just not entertainers.
A billionaire retired investor is forging plans to spend as much as $100 million during the 2014 election, seeking to pressure federal and state officials to enact climate change measures through a hard-edge campaign of attack ads against governors and lawmakers.
In early February, Mr. Steyer gathered two dozen of the country’s leading liberal donors and environmental philanthropists to his 1,800-acre ranch in Pescadero, Calif. — which raises prime grass-fed beef — to ask them to join his efforts. People involved in the discussions say Mr. Steyer is seeking to raise $50 million from other donors to match $50 million of his own.
Those efforts cemented his partnership with Chris Lehane, a California-based Democratic strategist, and heralded the emergence of NextGen Climate, now a 20-person operation encompassing a super PAC, a research organization and a political advocacy nonprofit. The group employs polling, research and social media to find climate-sensitive voters and spends millions of dollars in television advertising to try to persuade them.* New York Times
I doubt if this will change much even if successful, but at least he’s not trying to make life more depressing with his millions.
Billionaire Home Depot founder Ken Langone warned Pope Francis that if he doesn’t shut it about income inequality, the charitable contribution spigot will be turned off.*
Claverhouse’s link, above (about Home Depot founder Ken Langone threatening to cut off his contributions if Pope Francis keeps spouting support for the poor) just mentions Langone as one example of many cases of “unhinged” rich behavior.