2008 Whale List Grows

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/12/the_whale_list_grows.html">Click for list by Candidate

As regular Fix readers know, we're keeping a close eye on the courtship of elite GOP fundraisers by the new crop of potential 2008 Republican presidential candidates. We're particularly interested in the wooing of Bush "Pioneers and Rangers" -- the elite fundraisers who raised wads of money for the president during his last two campaigns.

In yesterday's Washington Post, Michael Fletcher and I documented efforts by Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to win over these money men and women.

The Post did an exhaustive examination of the connections between Bush and his top campaign cash collectors back in the spring of 2004; it's an invaluable research tool that shows how a fundraising machine is built. If you haven't already, bookmark it now.

In our work on Sunday's story, we collected many more names of Pioneers and Rangers who have committed to McCain, Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The list of those who have committed to a 2008 candidate is included below. We've dubbed these 2008 big spenders "whales."

master card around at our class reunion. Evidently having such a card identifies one as a bigtime supporter of Bush. He was loud in his criticism of gays and liberals and hung with a few like-minded jerks at the reunion, and confronted me about my support of Gore/Kerry. He also claimed to be a high level exec in a major corporation.

Sooooooooooooo, last week I was visiting his hometown in another state, said town known for its large neighborhoods of magnificent older mansions/estates on beautifully landscaped grounds. I indulged my curiosity and looked up his address and drove by - thinking that being such a staunch, lifelong GOP/Bush fanatic, he'd have a fantastic place. Imagine my glee when I saw he lived in a modest neighborhood of little brick ranch houses - quite similar to mine. I will never understand why anyone who has to rely on a paycheck for a living can be a Republican, as that party has devolved ever since Nixon introduced the dirty tricks war room.

But my old classmate is like Bush in one way - all hat and no cattle.