Monday, August 22, 2005
Clinton, Gore Tried to Fund Air America
Ex-president Clinton and former vice president Al Gore personally tried to raise start-up funds for the troubled Air America Radio network, the network's founder said Sunday.
Asked about the help Clinton and Gore provided, Chicago venture capitalist Sheldon Drobny told C-Span's "Sunday Morning Journal": "They helped us."
"How they helped us was to make introductions to a lot of good people," Drobny said. "Especially Al Gore, who introduced me to Al Franken. . . . He was my dream franchise player when we first conceived of the [radio] idea. And Vice President Gore was very helpful in making the introductions."
Ultimately, fundraising efforts by former White House duo went bust, Drobny said, insisting, "They didn't bring any major funding to the table."
Drobny chalked-up the Clinton-Gore failure to the trouble he had convincing investors that there was a market for liberal talk radio. "I mean, we really had to work hard to make believers out of even liberals," he claimed.
Asked about the financial scandal currently plaguing the network - New York City's Department of Investigation is probing a suspicious loan to Air America by a local Boys & Girls Club - Drobny said he couldn't discuss the matter.
"That particular transaction occurred with the previous ownership," he told C-Span. "And I cannot legally talk about it although I'd love to. But that was not our loan, it was a loan to the previous owners."
Ex-president Clinton and former vice president Al Gore personally tried to raise start-up funds for the troubled Air America Radio network, the network's founder said Sunday.
Asked about the help Clinton and Gore provided, Chicago venture capitalist Sheldon Drobny told C-Span's "Sunday Morning Journal": "They helped us."
"How they helped us was to make introductions to a lot of good people," Drobny said. "Especially Al Gore, who introduced me to Al Franken. . . . He was my dream franchise player when we first conceived of the [radio] idea. And Vice President Gore was very helpful in making the introductions."
Ultimately, fundraising efforts by former White House duo went bust, Drobny said, insisting, "They didn't bring any major funding to the table."
Drobny chalked-up the Clinton-Gore failure to the trouble he had convincing investors that there was a market for liberal talk radio. "I mean, we really had to work hard to make believers out of even liberals," he claimed.
Asked about the financial scandal currently plaguing the network - New York City's Department of Investigation is probing a suspicious loan to Air America by a local Boys & Girls Club - Drobny said he couldn't discuss the matter.
"That particular transaction occurred with the previous ownership," he told C-Span. "And I cannot legally talk about it although I'd love to. But that was not our loan, it was a loan to the previous owners."
