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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ish who wrote (22947)	1/4/2004 5:15:48 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793690

The Boston Globe 's Susan Milligan profiles Dean's financier, who helps him get in touch with his money side POLITICAL PROFILE For Dean financier, the little things add up By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff, 1/4/2004 WASHINGTON -- Terry Lierman has a strategy for keeping the Dean campaign well funded: If you want to win big, think small. As Howard Dean's national finance cochairman, Lierman says he has learned something Republicans figured out a long time ago: It's the small donations that make a healthy campaign chest and that get more volunteers involved. It's not that Lierman will turn down a $2,000 check. But the campaign has raised $40 million by taking what other campaigns might consider pocket change. For every "big-money" event the Dean campaign holds -- meaning ticket prices of $500 to $2,000 -- Lierman arranges for a cheaper alternative, the same day or night, where supporters can rally for Dean for as little as $10. That translates into an average donation of just $77. "Dean has broken the mold on this for the Democrats," Lierman said. Lierman, 55, is a veteran in politics and in health policy, Dean's signature issue. He has worked as a staff director for the Senate's Appropriations Committee and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Lierman did a stint at the National Institutes of Health and is a founder of several companies, including Employee Health Programs and Health Ventures LLC of Bethesda, Md. He also ran for Congress in Maryland, but lost -- and is determined to preserve his candidate from the same fate. That requires money. Lierman calls up supporters and asks for donations, arranges fund-raisers, and lines up sponsors for Dean events. Lierman is not directly involved in Dean's vaunted Internet fund-raising, but he collects e-mail addresses like they were lottery tickets, offering the hope of cash for the campaign. Lierman saves money by volunteering his services, as do his son and daughter. "It's easy to do it if you feel really strongly about a candidate and a person," said Lierman, who went to work for Dean after mutual acquaintances arranged for them to meet at Washington's Union Station last August. "There's nothing more noble than public service." While Dean supporters who gather at house parties or "meetups" might not pony up a four-digit donation, they make an inherent commitment to voting, and to Dean, just by contributing $10 or $20, Lierman said. Dean has been criticized for rejecting public financing to free himself to break spending limits, but Lierman says that Dean's grass-roots efforts could be a model for campaign financing. "It's a $77 average," he said. "This campaign is the essence of campaign finance reform. Campaign finance reform has been centered around the fear of someone buying an election. But if we got 2 million donors at $100 apiece, there's no worry of that." © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company. © Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company