Campaign Documents Show Depth of Bush Fund-Raising
As President Bush's fund-raising team prepares for his re-election campaign, documents subpoenaed from the 2000 campaign suggest that he will have an even deeper base to draw from than was previously realized.

The documents, which surfaced in the courtroom fight over the new campaign finance law, offer new details about Mr. Bush's most active fund-raisers — including his top three, who were awarded plum jobs as ambassadors.

They also show that more than 500 people signed up to be "Pioneers" by promising to raise at least $100,000 for Mr. Bush from individual donors. Previously, the Bush campaign had said that about 230 people had become Pioneers by raising $100,000.

It is not clear how much money the other people who signed up to be Pioneers were able to raise, as the data turned over under subpoena is incomplete and does not cover the last months of the campaign. A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said this afternoon that officials were unaware of anyone raising more than $100,000 besides the 230 people already disclosed.

Still, the records underscore the depth of the Bush fund-raising machine and suggest that Mr. Bush's totals are likely to soar in his re-election campaign, when fund-raisers will be able to take advantage of higher limits on donations. Under the new McCain-Feingold law, individuals can donate up to $2,000 to a candidate, or twice the $1,000 limit in force during the last presidential race.

The documents were obtained by the National Voting Rights Institute, a group in Boston that has challenged the increased limits.

The higher limits will continue to force "electoral power upwards," said Bonnie Tenneriello, a staff lawyer at the voting rights group.

"If you are a candidate whose supporters are only able to give $25 or $50, they're not going to stand a chance when candidates who have big networks in place are able to haul in the money from large donors in such large increments," Ms. Tenneriello said.

An analysis of the documents shows that the 21 most successful Pioneers raised at least $6.6 million. At least $24.9 million was collected by the Pioneers.

But the true number may be significantly higher, as the information turned over by the Bush campaign only lists money collected through March 15, 2000. In all, the campaign raised about $100 million, and Bush officials say they are planning to raise twice as much, or more, for the re-election campaign.…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/05/politics/05DONO.html