‘92 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION : Democrats Copy Fund-Raising Techniques of Experts: The GOP : Money: Special floor passes and glitzy parties are some of the perquisites being offered to big donors, but Clinton trails Bush in contest for dollars.

Even though Democrats have been borrowing many successful fund-raising techniques from the Republicans, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton still is trailing President Bush in the crucial competition for campaign dollars.

Special floor passes, reserved seats, high-level briefings, glitzy parties--these are some of the perks Democrats have been offering to big donors during their convention in an effort to persuade them to contribute more money. Their tactics reflect a concerted effort on the part of Democrats to match the Republicans’ traditional skill in fund raising.

Tonight the Democrats will stage their first-ever fund-raising gala held in conjunction with the party convention. For years, Republicans have made a habit of holding a big fund-raising dinner during their nominating conventions.

Bob Burkett, a longtime Democratic fund-raiser from Los Angeles, predicted that the $1,000- to $5,000-a-ticket Democratic dinner--”something that should have been done in the past that wasn’t”--would yield $3 million in contributions for the party.

Still, records available at the Federal Election Commission show that Bush and the Republican Party already have a money-raising edge that will be hard for the Democrats to beat.

Clinton finance chairman Bob Farmer acknowledges that the Democratic challenger is not likely to match the President in raising money for the presidential campaign. He said Republicans have the advantage of having an incumbent President and a richer donor base.

“It’s a difficult situation,” Farmer said. “The power of the incumbency to raise money cannot be overestimated.”

Clinton has recently reduced the nearly $4 million debt that he reported at the time of his last FEC report nearly a month ago, according to aides. But Bush reported an $8 million surplus in the last FEC filing.

More important, the Republicans have reported raising $31.7 million in so-called “soft money” prior to May 31, compared to $11.5 million raised by the Democrats.

Soft money, which is not subject to federal limitations, cannot be used directly to support the presidential candidate. It is used instead by state parties for voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities on behalf of all candidates on the party’s ticket.

Private contributions will play a big role in this year’s presidential campaign, even though both Bush and Clinton will receive $55.2 million in public funds from the $1 checkoff on individual income tax returns. In addition to their public funds, both candidates are expected to raise and spend up to $50 million in private money.

Meanwhile, Texas independent Ross Perot has said he will eschew public funding and bankroll his expected campaign almost entirely from his own pocket. Some have predicted that Perot will spend at least $100 million.

Rahm Emanuel, Clinton’s top professional fund-raiser, said he hopes to raise at least $40 million for the party to spend in the general election--two-thirds of it in contributions of $20,000 or less from individuals and political action committees. Unlike the soft money, these contributions are regulated by federal law and can be spent directly on behalf of Clinton.

One-third of the money the Democrats will raise, according to Emanuel, will be soft money donations of as much as $200,000 each from individuals, corporations, political action committees and labor unions.

Of the soft money contributions the Democrats already have raised, $7 million came from corporations, $2.2 million from individuals and $1.8 million from labor unions. As of May 31, the Democrats had received 22 contributions of $100,000 or more. The United Steelworkers Union has been the biggest Democratic contributor, with soft money donations totaling $384,000.

By comparison, the Republicans have raised $23 million from corporations, $8 million from individuals and only $34,000 from labor unions. The Republicans had more than 50 contributors of $100,000 or more and the biggest contributor to the GOP was the Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., which had donated $707,000 by the end of May.

While the Republicans rely primarily on familiar names to fill their campaign coffers, many of the Democrats’ biggest contributors this year are newcomers to the political scene.

“There are more new people contributing to the campaign than I’ve seen before,” said Shelia Davis Lawrence, a volunteer fund-raiser whose husband owns the Del Coronodo Hotel in San Diego. “We can’t rely just on the old stalwarts.”

The newcomers include many younger, successful entrepreneurs such as Hugh Westbrook, owner of Hospice Care Inc. of Miami, who has contributed at least $137,250 to the party. There also is a larger percentage of women and gays represented among the top contributors, according to campaign officials.

Farmer credited Clinton’s feminist wife, Hillary, with attracting a larger number of women donors than in the past. He said she has raised as much as $100,000 at each of several fund-raisers held for women contributors around the country--an unusually large amount for a candidate’s wife.

Movie and television industry people have contributed at least $382,622 in soft money to the Democrats, compared to only $130,490 to the Republicans. The big Hollywood contributors were movie producer Frederick W. Field, heir to the Marshal Field fortune, who gave $97,600 in soft money; Lew R. Wasserman of MCA, $72,730, and Barry Diller, $50,000.

“It’s not true that Hollywood is not supporting Bill Clinton,” Burkett said.

Burkett said a fund-raiser for Clinton in Field’s home raised $450,000, compared to $200,000 raised during a similar fund-raiser for 1988 Democratic nominee Michael S. Dukakis. He also estimated that $250,000 of the money raised at tonight’s gala fund-raiser in New York will come from Los Angeles donors.

At the Democratic convention, donors who had contributed or raised a minimum of $100,000--all of whom qualified as “trustees” of the Democratic Party--were afforded special privileges not available to rank-and-file Democrats. This included special floor passes, guest passes, reserved seats, party invitations and access to special lounges where only they were permitted to go to escape the chaos of the convention activity.

Big contributors clearly came to New York expecting special treatment.

Farmer recalled that on the first day of the convention, one trustee complained bitterly that he had not been given the most prestigious type of pass for gaining entry to the convention hall. He said the donor mistakenly thought another trustee had a better pass.

The Democrats have taken steps to avoid the embarrassment that Bush suffered when it was learned that the Republicans had accepted about $500,000 from a contributor named Michael Kojima, who had big business debts and owed money to two ex-wives for child support.

Farmer said the Democrats do not deposit any check of $10,000 or more into the party bank account until party officials have researched the history of the contributor, using Nexis and Lexis computer research services. In 1988, he said, the Democrats returned several big checks based on unfavorable information obtained from Nexis.

As a result of fund-raising efforts by Clinton in the last month, according to Emanuel, the campaign is within $800,000 of paying off the debt. He predicted that the Democratic nominee would be in the black by August.

In the general election, Clinton will invest most of his $55 million in federal funds in TV advertising and media advice. Under law, the Democratic National Committee will be permitted to spend more than $10 million on his behalf.

The Democrats’ Big Money Backers

Here are contributors of $100,000 or more to Democratic Party committees between Jan. 1, 1991 , and May 31, 1992. Money will assist Bill Clinton and Al Gore:

Contributor City Amount United Steelworkers Pittsburgh, Pa. $384,000 Messinger, Alida Rockefeller Minneapolis 300,000 RJR Nabisco Inc. Washington 254,000 National Education Assn. Washington 215,672 Am. Fed. State/County/Municipal Emp. Washington 206,140 Dennis, Richard J. Chicago 201,300 Moores, John Sugar Land, Tex. 200,000 Lewis, Peter B. Cleveland 170,000 Atlantic Richfield Co. Washington 168,150 Sheet Metal Workers Intl. Assn. Washington 154,200 United Auto Workers Detroit 146,016 Philip Morris New York 144,000 Hospice Care Inc. Miami 137,250 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. Decatur, Ill. 136,500 Coronado Properties Ltd. Coronado, Calif. 125,500 Connell Co. Westfield, N.J. 125,000 Tobacco Institute Washington 114,375 Am. Federation of Teachers Washington 110,608 Communications Workers of Amer. Washington 102,430 Ferry, Sandra New York 100,000 Kelts, Ben D. Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. 100,000 Rockefeller, Blanchette New York 100,000

Source: Center for Responsive Politics