Kerry mines California gold in first stop on fund-raising tour
BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
Friday, March 26, 2004
(03-26) 11:35 PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --
When John Kerry kicks off his multistate fund-raising tour in California next week, stars including Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio will add a celebrity buzz to a crowd already passionately committed to ousting President Bush in November.
Home to some of the Democratic Party's deepest pockets, California has always been a mother lode for candidates pursuing national office. This time, though, the anybody-but-Bush intensity among Democrats has motivated activists to seek money like never before.
"I've never seen a time when Democrats and many independents are more galvanized and interested in helping," said state Treasurer Phil Angelides, who has raised more than $50,000 for Kerry. "I believe there is greater intensity and widespread willingness to give than in any previous election I can remember."
First up for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is a luncheon Monday in Sacramento hosted by Angelides, then a San Francisco reception organized by the area's top high-tech moguls.
On Tuesday, Kerry lunches with donors in San Diego before hitting a gala at the Los Angeles home of billionaire supermarket mogul Ron Burkle, with Affleck, DiCaprio and Barbra Streisand. Singer James Taylor will perform.
Kerry is familiar to many Democratic donors here, having spent years cultivating contacts in Hollywood and the high-tech community, the state's two main treasure troves of campaign cash. He has already raised more money in California, $5 million, than from any other state, according to recent financial disclosures.
But Bush has raised more than $13.3 million in the state, for a $170 million war chest that even Kerry's staunchest supporters say he is unlikely to come close to matching. Kerry has set a goal of raising $105 million before the Democratic National Convention in late July.
To be sure, not all of California's Democratic donors have been Kerry supporters. Many found the four-term Massachusetts senator a bit stuffy, and his tortured justification for his vote authorizing the U.S.-led war in Iraq persuaded many activists to support former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
One is Steve Kirsch, a Silicon Valley multimillionaire who is one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors. Originally a Dean supporter, Kirsch has switched to Kerry -- but with reservations.
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