Money Men : The Real Story of Political Power in the U.S.A.

by BIRNBAUM, JEFFREY

• ISBN13: 9780812931198
• ISBN10: 081293119X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Crown

Summary

The real political campaigns in America begin with the money men. If you assume that fund-raising is so distasteful that you don't want to hear any more about it, you are closing your mind to one of the most fundamental and fascinating stories in American politics, writes Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, author ofThe Money Men. For the past two decades, Birnbaum has followed the money in Washington, as a reporter forThe Wall Street Journal,Time, andFortune. In hisWashington Postbestsellers,Showdown at Gucci GulchandThe Lobbyists, Birnbaum examined the forces that wield power in our capital and the subtle yet influential interplay between pressure groups and politicians. Now, Birnbaum takes us inside the world of the most elite, powerful, and little-known groups in politics: the fund-raisers and fund-givers who have an increasingly large say in the way our government works. If you want to be taken seriously as a political candidate in America, you've got to start with money and the people who raise it. Until now, no one has taken as close a look at who these people are, what they want, and what they get in return for raising hundreds of millions of dollars. InThe Money Men, Birnbaum takes us behind the scenes and into the mansions, banquet halls, and living rooms of the people raising the big bucks for presidential aspirants in Campaign 2000. He details the ritual mating dance of money that is rarely seen and is captivating to behold. Birnbaum also reveals which lobbying organizations are the most effective in advancing their agendas and how they do it. For anyone interested in the state of democracy, the possibility for reform, and the strange art of political salesmanship,The Money Menis required reading.

Author Biography

Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, an award-winning author and journalist, is currently the Washington bureau chief of <i>Fortune</i> magazine. He is also the author of three acclaimed works: <b>Showdown at Gucci Gulch</b>, with Alan S. Murray; <b>The Lobbyists</b>; and <b>Madhouse</b>: <b>The Private Turmoil of Working for the President</b>. He has been a regular panelist on Washington Week in Review and is a contributor to the Fox News Channel. He lives outside Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	xi
Why You Should Care	3	(19)
A History of Legal Bribery	22	(27)
Fund-raisers Aren't Who You Think	49	(28)
Buying into the System	77	(27)
A Day on the Phone	104	(20)
The Money Woman	124	(12)
The Real Party Bosses	136	(32)
Lobbyist Envy	168	(25)
Bang for the Buck	193	(14)
High-tech Turnaround	207	(18)
The Shakedown	225	(26)
No-frills Reform	251	(20)
Acknowledgments and Sources	271	(4)
Index	275

Excerpts

Almost everyone who works in official Washington eventually has what can be described as the Moment: that  instant when they finally realize that money plays too big a role in politics, way too big. Not that it's a surprise. No one can possibly be happy with a system that compels politicians to spend a third of their time begging for contributions. Yet it's still a shock to see the bazaar up close. It's one thing to know and another to see with your own eyes. It makes a difference.

One of my friends experienced his Moment in the mid-1980s when he worked as a press secretary for a southern congressman. At the time, the lawmaker was a hot commodity: He was undecided on whether to vote to fund construction of the B-1 bomber. The Reagan administration, frantic for support, wanted his backing very badly, so White House aides were eager to bargain. In a meeting one day, my friend witnessed the deal as it was struck. The congressman pledged to vote to fund the aircraft in exchange for a VIP tour of the White House for twenty or thirty of his largest and most loyal campaign contributors. The congressman didn't ask for a new dam or a new road or a new grant to help his neediest constituents. Instead, he traded his greatest power, his vote on the House floor, to please the handful of people who really matter to him: the money men who were so key to his reelection.

Campaign cash, and lots of it, buys advertisements that, in turn, lure voters to the polls. The more money, the more votes. It's that simple and that venal. Money talks, at least on TV and radio. And the candidate who can put more of his or her ads onto the public airwaves (and local cable channels) has the better chance of winning. Period.

That's why lawmakers and executive-branch appointees assist their moneyed constituents whenever they think they can get away with it. They can't always, of course, and big donors are sometimes losers in the game of legislation. Still, it is the rare lawmaker who doesn't keep handy -- or at least keep in mind -- the list of his or her best financial friends. When they call, they are listened to. And conversely, when the lawmakers call them, the donors jump. (Lawmakers often demand contributions, which to the givers seem more like shakedowns.) In any case, it's a symbiotic--or, more accurately, a parasitic -- relationship that absorbs too much of our leaders' attention. It also is part of a deeply ingrained system that's as difficult to fix as it is horrific to behold.

But behold it we must. On the threshold of a presidential election, the time is right to focus on this important corner of public policy. We all know vaguely that something is wrong in Washington, especially with its money culture. I hope to show how the money chase works and, in some cases, how we think it works but doesn't really. Only then can we think clearly about how we can -- and cannot -- change it for the better.

Washington is awash in campaign cash. It has flooded over the gunwales of the ship of state and threatens to sink the entire vessel. Political donations determine the course and speed of many government actions that -- though we often forget -- will deeply affect our daily lives. The deluge of dollars pouring into lobbying and elections is one of the main reasons Americans are turned off by Washington and its arcane ways.

Like so much of what goes on in the nation's capital, fundraising is widely misunderstood. Yes, political giving in its many forms is hugely important. And yes, all of us would be better off if a lot of political giving had never seeped into the system. Yet not all donations are offered for nefarious purposes, nor do they always lead to nefarious ends. In fact, the individuals or groups that give the most don't always win. The relationship between contributions and government action is much more complicated than mere quids and quos.

One thing is clear. Political giving is raging like wildfire. George W. Bush shattered all records in his run for president. Indeed, the combination of a surging stock market and huge political stakes have made 2000 the Year of the Firehose. Campaign cash is gushing everywhere now, but the situation has been developing for many years. In one out of six congressional races in 1998 at least one of the candidates spent one million dollars. That was ninety-four candidates in seventy-six congressional districts. Just a decade earlier, only ten House candidates reached the million-dollar mark. The last presidential election cycle cost just over two billion dollars, a record. This time, expect the first three-billion-dollar campaign.

---

Excerpted from The Money Men: The Real Story of Political Power in the U.S.A. by Jeffrey Birnbaum
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.