Dean Woos Wealthy Contributors

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean -- who heralds small donors as the backbone of his campaign -- is spending much of this month appealing to well-heeled contributors in a series of high-priced, celebrity-studded fundraisers expected to generate $3 million.

Much of Dean’s recent schedule has been built around the events, which run as high as $2,000 a person -- the maximum an individual can contribute to a candidate during the primary season -- and feature entertainers such as comedian Janeane Garofalo and singer Carly Simon.

On Saturday, the former Vermont governor held receptions in Atlanta and Miami, capping a two-week stretch of fundraisers in Dallas, Chicago, New York and Boston.

Dean is scheduled to fly to California today to attend a concert fundraiser at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, and he will appear at a similar event Monday at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

Dean has said repeatedly that if he wins his party’s nomination, he wants to compete financially with President Bush, whose campaign has set a goal of raising at least $170 million. And some analysts predict that the Bush total may reach $200 million.

Dean led the pack of Democratic candidates with about $25 million raised through Sept. 30 -- the most recent federal reporting date.

And much of his money consisted of small donations raised through the campaign’s aggressive use of the Internet.

But Dean’s reliance on the more customary types of fundraisers underscores the difficulty in raising huge sums of money solely through small donations, experts said.

“While the early Internet money really got him noticed, there’s no doubt that for him to come anywhere near $100 to $200 million, he has to turn to those more traditional forms,” said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan Washington-based group that tracks money in politics.

Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi acknowledged the need to solicit money from wealthy contributors.

“Our goal is to match the president dollar for dollar,” he said. “To compete with $200 million, we’re going to raise money in every way we can.”

Campaign finance reform advocates express concerns that such competition for money almost assuredly puts candidates in the position of seeking help from donors who would expect favors in return.

“Arms races are dangerous,” said Fred Wertheimer, founder of Democracy 21, a Washington-based nonpartisan group that works to eliminate the influence of big money in politics. “They basically lead people to trying to figure out every way they can to raise money, and that potentially gets you to influence-seekers.”

Trippi noted that small donors remain the overwhelming force behind the Dean campaign. Those contributing the maximum of $2,000 “are a very, very small percentage of the number of donors we have nationwide,” he said.

According to fundraising reports through the end of September, 56% of Dean’s donations came in increments of $200 or less, while 13% came from the 1,500 donors who gave $2,000 apiece, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In comparison, donations of $2,000 made up 73% of Bush’s fundraising, the center reported. Other Democratic candidates also have relied more heavily on big donors. For instance, $2,000 contributions represented 55% of the money raised by both Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, according to the center.

As Dean woos wealthy contributors, he has to guard against losing the image he has cultivated as a grass-roots candidate, some analysts said.

“He has to be careful he doesn’t lose his luster, that as he appeals to those donors, he doesn’t turn off his base,” Noble said.

Even as Dean hopscotches around the country on the fundraising circuit, he continually touts the role small donors have played in his campaign. He repeatedly tells audiences that the average donation he received in the last fundraising quarter was $77.

At a fundraiser in Boston on Wednesday night, which netted more than $250,000, about 500 supporters milled around a marble lobby, sipping Merlot and eating tuna tartare. “This country is going to be taken back by those who are disenfranchised,” Dean said.

The audience -- composed mainly of doctors, professors and corporate executives -- clapped enthusiastically.

“Dean, in my opinion, is one of the few candidates who actually has a set of beliefs and can articulate them,” said Deborah Ciolfi, the chief executive of an asset management company in Cambridge, Mass. She and her husband spent $1,500 each on their tickets.

She commended Dean for holding traditional fundraisers, even as the campaign continues its Internet-based efforts. “He’s going to have to do both,” Ciolfi said. “Unfortunately, money is still a barometer of how well you’re doing.”

Ticket prices to some Dean fundraisers vary to attract a mix of donors. At today’s San Francisco event, where singers Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby and others will perform, the cost of admission ranges from $100 to $2,000.

Tickets are priced the same for the House of Blues event Monday, where bands The Folksmen, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and The Bangles will perform.

“When we have high-dollar events, we have low-dollar events that accompany them,” said Terry Lierman, Dean’s national finance co-chair. “That way we get a cross-section of everybody. Inclusiveness, that’s what the campaign is all about.”