Calif. backers start Obama PAC
Wealthy San Francisco activists have created what may be the first independent campaign committee of the 2008 presidential campaign and are aiming to win commitments for 500,000 votes for Sen. Barack Obama by the Feb. 5 Democratic primary.
Led by attorney Steve Phillips and his wife, Susan Sandler, Vote Hope, at votehope2008.org, is a federal political action committee that by law must operate independently of Obama and other candidates.
Federal political action committees can raise up to $5,000 per donor. The group’s goal is to raise $3 million.
In an interview, Phillips cited the “energy and enthusiasm” for Obama in California. But he said Obama was focused on the first states to vote: New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina.
“They are not going to have the infrastructure in California to receive and channel all that energy,” said Phillips, a former San Francisco school board member who ran for the state Assembly in 2002.
His wife, who is not directly involved in the organization, is the daughter of billionaire Democrats Herbert and Marion Sandler, who built their fortune operating Golden West Financial, an Oakland thrift they recently sold.
The elder Sandlers are among the largest donors to Democratic candidates and causes, having spent $13.85 million on federal campaigns from 2004 to 2006.
Although they have stated that they are not fans of former President Clinton, the Sandlers have backed an array of Democratic-oriented organizations such as MoveOn.org and some created by Clinton partisans.
In past campaigns, such groups have leveled the toughest attacks on candidates, prompting criticism from politicians, including Obama. The Federal Election Commission has issued rulings recently that limit their ability to operate.
Phillips said his organization would not attack Obama’s foes, and instead would focus on getting out the vote for the Illinois Democrat among minorities, the poor and students.
Whether independent campaign committees will play a major role in the 2008 campaign is “the $64,000 question,” said Michael E. Toner, a Washington attorney and former FEC member. “There is no question that the FEC has been more aggressive.”
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail that Obama was unaware of Vote Hope, and that “it is our hope that anyone who supports Obama does so directly through the campaign and not an outside group.”
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