Obama wags finger at fundraising, but his hand’s out

Sen. Barack Obama, who has repeatedly called for limiting the role of money in politics, left California this week with millions of dollars pledged to his campaign for the White House.

His fundraising swing through Silicon Valley, Beverly Hills and other traditional sources of campaign cash illustrated the predicament facing anyone running for office as a reformer while trying to be a viable candidate.

The Illinois Democrat has called for tighter regulation of lobbyists and campaign finances. But he has entered a race in which the Democratic nominee probably will have to raise $500 million. So, as he has in the past, he is turning to the same sources of campaign funds as other politicians: corporations, unions, lawyers, the wealthy and others.

It is, Obama has said, “the original sin of everyone who’s ever run for office -- myself included.”

“In order to get elected, we need to raise vast sums of money by meeting and dealing with people who are disproportionately wealthy,” he said in March 2006 as he urged passage of more restrictions on campaign money and lobbying -- a concept embraced by other Democrats in the race and some Republicans.

Obama is also advocating an overhaul of the tax-funded financing system of presidential campaigns. Like other major candidates, however, he won’t use public funds -- because he would have to abide by spending caps considered too restrictive.

“You can’t go to heaven without dying,” said political scientist James A. Thurber of American University in Washington, who has worked with Obama on campaign finance legislation. “You’ve got to have the money in order to run.... Even if you’re a reformer, you have to get money, or you won’t have the fuel to compete.”

Details of Obama’s early presidential fundraising won’t be known until mid-April, when candidates must disclose contributions received in the first quarter.

But a review of Obama’s Illinois state and federal campaign finance statements, from his first run for office in 1995 through 2006, shows that he raised $18 million to pay for two winning state Senate races, a failed run for Congress, his 2004 U.S. Senate victory, and a “leadership” fund used to enhance his influence by helping other Democrats win office. Most of it -- $15 million -- was for the U.S. Senate run.

The sums are a relative pittance over a decade of politics: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has raised more than $93 million since she first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, including almost $40 million for her reelection last year.

Obama’s campaign finance reports show that much of his money has come from academic circles. Employees of the University of Chicago, for example, where he once taught, account for $170,000. He also receives significant money from philanthropists, and from people employed by museums, churches and nonprofit groups.

Obama, a lawyer, has received $2.5 million from attorneys, many of them from blue-chip firms. Insurers, banks and investment houses, primarily from Wall Street and Chicago, have accounted for $2.2 million, campaign finance statements show.

Last month, Obama announced he would reject money from some of those sources -- specifically political action committees and lobbyists -- as he runs for president.

“He has been in Washington long enough to know the sway that special interests have over lawmaking,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said. His rejection of PAC and lobbyist money is “an important step in the right direction, and a symbol of the kind of leader he wants to be.”

Obama has taken $1.3 million from PACs for insurers, motorcycle makers, attorneys, healthcare providers, telephone companies, banks, builders, environmentalists, brewers, distillers, sugar producers, labor unions and more.

Additionally, Obama received $750,000 from lobby shops and from law firms that have large lobbying operations, his reports show. Illinois-based attorneys account for most of that money. But many, including such international firms as Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin, also lobby for automakers, banks, investment houses, pharmaceutical manufacturers, energy companies and telecommunications firms.

Although he now plans to reject PAC and lobbyist donations, his policy would not preclude lawyers not registered as lobbyists from donating, even if their firms have lobby arms. And individuals in groups that have political action committees could contribute.

Obama also has taken money from at least one company he has overseen.

In his first two years in the U.S. Senate, Obama sat on a subcommittee with authority over nuclear energy. Chicago-based Exelon Corp., the nation’s largest nuclear power generator, and its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, gave Obama $81,000 between 1995 and 2006.

Obama spokesman Burton said in a statement: “Sen. Obama has a clear policy to accept contributions from lawful sources but with the understanding that the contributors will receive and expect no preferential treatment in any matter concerning his office.”

The bulk of Obama’s money -- $10 million -- has come from Illinois. He accepted his first campaign contributions, $7,300, in July 1995 as he ran for a state Senate seat. Some of his home-state donations demonstrate the perils of political money.

An inside player in Illinois politics was there at the start of Obama’s career -- businessman and Democratic fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko -- and has been a contributor ever since. Rezko and his family, associates and businesses have given Obama $50,000, campaign records show. Rezko hosted at least one fundraiser for him.

In October, a federal grand jury in Chicago indicted Rezko in cases involving fraudulent loans and a kickback scheme, unrelated to Obama.

After the indictments, Obama donated $11,500 to a charity, an amount he said represented what Rezko gave to his U.S. Senate campaign.

Finance reports show Obama took money from two other figures in the same kickback probe: Joseph A. Cari Jr., once a prominent Democratic fundraiser, and John Glennon, once an influential Republican who allegedly sought to conceal kickbacks. Cari pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge in 2005.

Obama since has donated $1,440 to a charity, roughly the amount that Cari gave him, and returned Glennon’s $1,000 check.

On his trip this week, Obama held fundraisers in San Diego, Silicon Valley and San Francisco; and at the Beverly Hills home of billionaire Hollywood mogul David Geffen. The Geffen event raised $1.3 million.

dan.morain@latimes.com