Saturday, September 16, 2006
Dems Plan 'Red to Blue' Campaign
"For us to win we have to focus. It's all about picking, making good judgments about priorities," Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago tells Newsweek in the current issue about the Democrats' hopes for winning control of the House.
If you are one of the 40 members of the Democrats' Red to Blue Program, donations from strangers across the country will blow through your campaign mail slot. The Red to Blue program is a Good Housekeeping Seal, says Emanuel in the Sept. 25 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, Sept. 18). "It means a lot of things: campaign well run, campaign well financed, good candidate. It means a good opportunity to pick up a seat. Candidates want to be on [the list] and donors want the clarity," says Emanuel.
Emanuel's brother, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel is fast becoming a political networking force in Los Angeles, issuing his clients and partners invitations to fund-raising events, including one for his brother and for his House campaign committee, report chief political correspondent Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Holly Bailey.
The Democrats' hopes for winning control of the House rest on whether real people can be as effective as they have been portrayed as being on TV — the hard-charging character of Josh Lyman on NBC's "The West Wing" was modeled on Emanuel. The part was created and written by Aaron Sorkin and played by Bradley Whitford — both men are clients of Ari's. The manically in-your-face character of agent Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage" is modeled on Ari, who represents Steve Tompkins and Mark Wahlberg, executive producers of the show.
The entertainment industry remains a major source of cash for the Democrats, who get two out of every three dollars given to federal candidates. The industry has given about $10 million to Democrats so far. And while Ari is hardly the key moneyman, he is emerging as a leader of a newer generation of Hollywood fund-raisers, who rely less on their own wallets than their networks' and who are willing to become public political figures, not just back room types.
Ari cosponsored a $220,000 fund-raiser for his brother's personal PAC in June; in the days before and after the event, the PAC received $30,000 in checks from employees of the Endeavor Agency, the firm Ari founded. Other contributors included Ari's celebrity clients, among them Sorkin and Michael Douglas. (Rahm's PAC, in turn, has donated some of that cash to members of the Red to Blue program.) Endeavor employees have given more than $50,000 to the House campaign committee; clients such as Sorkin have given generously, too.
"He can pick up the phone and get anyone — anyone — on the line," says a friend who deals with Ari on a daily basis but who is still afraid to talk about him on the record. "Ari's a definite player and very strategic," Robin Bronk, who heads the nonpartisan Creative Coalition, an arts lobbying group, tells Newsweek.
"For us to win we have to focus. It's all about picking, making good judgments about priorities," Democratic Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Chicago tells Newsweek in the current issue about the Democrats' hopes for winning control of the House.
If you are one of the 40 members of the Democrats' Red to Blue Program, donations from strangers across the country will blow through your campaign mail slot. The Red to Blue program is a Good Housekeeping Seal, says Emanuel in the Sept. 25 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, Sept. 18). "It means a lot of things: campaign well run, campaign well financed, good candidate. It means a good opportunity to pick up a seat. Candidates want to be on [the list] and donors want the clarity," says Emanuel.
Emanuel's brother, Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel is fast becoming a political networking force in Los Angeles, issuing his clients and partners invitations to fund-raising events, including one for his brother and for his House campaign committee, report chief political correspondent Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Holly Bailey.
The Democrats' hopes for winning control of the House rest on whether real people can be as effective as they have been portrayed as being on TV — the hard-charging character of Josh Lyman on NBC's "The West Wing" was modeled on Emanuel. The part was created and written by Aaron Sorkin and played by Bradley Whitford — both men are clients of Ari's. The manically in-your-face character of agent Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage" is modeled on Ari, who represents Steve Tompkins and Mark Wahlberg, executive producers of the show.
The entertainment industry remains a major source of cash for the Democrats, who get two out of every three dollars given to federal candidates. The industry has given about $10 million to Democrats so far. And while Ari is hardly the key moneyman, he is emerging as a leader of a newer generation of Hollywood fund-raisers, who rely less on their own wallets than their networks' and who are willing to become public political figures, not just back room types.
Ari cosponsored a $220,000 fund-raiser for his brother's personal PAC in June; in the days before and after the event, the PAC received $30,000 in checks from employees of the Endeavor Agency, the firm Ari founded. Other contributors included Ari's celebrity clients, among them Sorkin and Michael Douglas. (Rahm's PAC, in turn, has donated some of that cash to members of the Red to Blue program.) Endeavor employees have given more than $50,000 to the House campaign committee; clients such as Sorkin have given generously, too.
"He can pick up the phone and get anyone — anyone — on the line," says a friend who deals with Ari on a daily basis but who is still afraid to talk about him on the record. "Ari's a definite player and very strategic," Robin Bronk, who heads the nonpartisan Creative Coalition, an arts lobbying group, tells Newsweek.
