The confidence with which Bush is pursuing his strategy was evident last Wednesday in the Picasso-adorned Park Avenue home of private-equity titan Henry Kravis. It was Bush’s 62nd birthday, and he celebrated in Kravis’ 26-room penthouse with more than 40 of the richest people in New York. Among them were Bush’s cousin, George Walker IV, the chief executive of the investment management firm of Neuberger Berman, and real estate mogul Jerry Speyer, along with Ken Mehlman and Alex Navab of Kravis’ firm, KKR. The admission price: a minimum of $100,000, also the going rate for other Bush fundraisers.
Guests took an elevator straight to the foyer and noshed on salmon and other hors d’oeuvres while listening to Bush talk about strategy for the upcoming campaign.
“You don’t get the big job by tearing other people down and you don’t get it by trying to appeal to everyone,” a donor recalled Bush saying. “I’m going to play this thing my way and let the chips fall where they may.”
The donors understood, as Bush does, that he needs their sizable help to offset his shaky support from some of the party’s conservative activist base, miffed over his positions on immigration and the Common Core educational standards. The money he collected would pay for time later in the campaign that he could devote to grassroots campaigning.
As it turns out, Kravis’ $4 million haul has led to a donor arms race with Coral Gables billionaire Miguel “Mike” Fernandez, who wrote in an email obtained by POLITICO that he intends to raise $5 million at a fundraiser next week at his waterfront mansion. About $1 million of that haul would come from Fernandez himself.
All this money flows to Bush’s Right to Rise PAC and a separate super PAC that can take money in unlimited sums. The way that Bush set up the two committees — at the same time and with the same attorney, former Romney super PAC lawyer Charlie Spies — is “unique,” said elections law lawyer Kenneth Gross, a former attorney for the Federal Election Commission. Because Bush is not an announced candidate or a federal office holder, he is far freer than others to work with the super PAC to collect unlimited contributions. Once Bush announces his candidacy, he will be restricted from working directly with the super PAC. But, by then, the committee will have been thoroughly infused with Bush’s campaign DNA and operate almost automatically in accordance with his campaign vision.
In less than a month, Bush has attended and spoken at a dozen super PAC fundraisers — about as many as Romney did in the entire 2011-12 election cycle.
“What Bush has done will usher in two things with other candidates in the future: 1) the way to get big donors up front with a greater measure of coordination and 2) a way to delay your official candidacy,” Gross said.
So far, his fundraising efforts may have pushed one potential rival out of the race: Romney. Once the 2012 nominee realized the seriousness of Bush’s intentions, he began dialing donors. Many had already committed to Bush.
Bush also outmaneuvered Romney by getting to the 2012 nominee’s top Iowa consultant, David Kochel. Murphy made first contact in early fall just to feel Kochel out. Bradshaw followed up months later by phone.
As Right to Rise was being formed, the conversations turned more serious. Kochel met Bush on Jan. 21 in Washington. Nine days later, Bush offered him a top role in Right to Rise, with the implicit understanding he would be a leading player — not just an Iowa guy — if Bush ran for president.
“I felt like it was an important thing to do for my career and for where I thought I could be most helpful and useful in preparation for what could be a campaign in 2016,” Kochel said. He said he made the “difficult call” to a “gracious and generous” Romney.
The next week, Romney told supporters he would likely forgo a third run for the presidency. Bush then embarked on an effort to lock down the former governor’s New York-area supporters and keep them away from Christie and any other would-be 2016 contenders.
“Jeb was on the phone with me right away and he was very persuasive,” said one Wall Streeter who raised millions for Romney’s campaigns. “Jeb has done a very good job, and he’s a natural place where people will go who are Mitt supporters. And there has been a significant amount of outreach to all of Romney’s folks.”
This donor, who plans to hold a mega-fundraiser for Bush that he says will outstrip the Kravis affair, described his conversations with the former Florida governor as direct and convincing. “Nothing about him is overly flashy. But his plan is well thought-out. He’s just doing his thing and is not that into paying attention to what anyone else is doing.”
Another major bundler for Republicans, who backs a rival candidate, marveled at the aggressive nature of the Bush fundraising operation.
“Jeb has quickly come to dominate the New York-area money the way he dominates Florida money,” this person said. “The only place he doesn’t dominate yet is in California. But they could easily raise the $100 million they claim if not much more.”
Bush’s team is well aware that the huge dollar fundraisers, especially on Wall Street, open Bush up to attacks from both the left and the right that he is creature of the wealthy. And the frenzied vacuuming of cash plays directly into one Democratic line of attack, should Bush win the GOP nomination: portray him as another out-of-touch rich guy, as they successfully did with Romney.
But they say few voters are paying close attention now. And once they are, these people say, Bush will be fully funded and able to spend all of his time selling his message of economic growth coupled with immigration and education reform.
One sign of Bush’s preparations for hitting the campaign trail was visible at the Kravis affair. To celebrate Bush’s birthday, the hosts brought him a slice of chocolate cake. But Bush didn’t indulge. Since late last year, the somewhat portly former governor has gone on the “paleo” diet to slim down.
Handed a piece of birthday cake, he plucked only the blueberry off the top and ate it.
