Obama Beats Clinton in Mass. Fundraising

December 26, 2007

Barack Obama leads Hillary Rodham Clinton in campaign donations from Massachusetts and has doubled her tally from the state's most politically generous ZIP code — 02138 — a Cambridge district home to Harvard professors, lawyers and assorted liberal intellectuals.

more stories like thisHarvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and architect Graham Gund are among the Cambridge donors who have contributed to Obama, who has raised $2.7 million in Massachusetts compared to Clinton's $2.1 million, according to the most recent federal figures of individual contributions.

Clinton, whose husband, former President William Clinton, visited Boston before leaving office to personally thank Massachusetts for its support, has been outpaced in the Harvard Square district that is home to some of the nation's top opinion makers.

Obama has picked up $313,000 to Clinton's $154,000 in the district that includes Harvard University and the city's high-rent homes overlooking the Charles River, according to the federal figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

"He's our best hope for bringing our country together," said Myra Gordon, an attorney who gave Obama $2,300, the maximum an individual can donate per election. "He wants to work with both parties. He's opposed to the war. He's going to try diplomacy. She's more of a divider."

Republican Mitt Romney leads all presidential candidates with $3.6 million raised in Massachusetts, where he was governor for four years. Rudy Giuliani was next with $672,000, followed by John McCain with $609,000.

Romney's best state has been California, good for $6.5 million, and next was Utah, where he's picked up $4.5 million.

Among Democrats, Obama's opposition to the Iraq war was cited by several people as to why they favor him. Clinton, a senator from New York, supported a 2002 Senate resolution authorizing the use of U.S. force against Iraq. Obama was in the Illinois state senate then. On the campaign trail, both of the leading Democrats have pledged to remove U.S. troops from Iraq if elected president.

Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who gave $1,000 to Clinton, lives in the 02138 ZIP code, as does Gates, a Harvard professor of African American studies who gave $4,600 to Obama on Aug. 31 for the primary and general elections, and $1,000 to Clinton a week later.

The most recent figures cover the first three quarters of 2007. Fundraising activity from the past three months won't be reported until Jan. 31. Through three quarters nationally, Clinton raised $90 million to Obama's $80 million. They are the front-runners entering Iowa's Jan. 3 presidential caucuses, and New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation Jan. 8 primary.

Alan Solomont, Obama's New England fundraiser, estimates the campaign has raised another $1 million from Massachusetts in the fourth quarter.

"It's an organization of young and old, black and white, professionals and nonprofessionals, men and women," Solomont said. "We've built an organization of people who are looking for the change Obama offers."

Steve Grossman, past chairman of the Democratic National Committee who helped lead Clinton's fundraising in Massachusetts, said the state is "tailor made for Obama," because of constituencies including liberals, college students, and Iraq war opponents.

"This is a state where the opposition to the Iraq war is probably more pronounced and more intense than any other place in the country," Grossman said.

Grossman had no estimate for fourth-quarter numbers, but said a Dec. 3 event in Boston headlined by Bill Clinton generated more than $400,000. He said that was the main fundraising event of the quarter.

"I'm proud of what we've done, I'm proud of what Hillary has done here. I believe deeply in her," he said.

Grossman said Obama's support here "in many ways tends to mirror the support Deval Patrick got in the 2006 governor's race," which Patrick won. He said it's "not simply because they're both African American. They tend to appeal to similar emotions on the part of the political and donor community."

Patrick endorsed Obama in October and is campaigning for him in key states.

Anne Holtzworth, another 02138 donor, gave to both Obama and Clinton. Holtzworth, who helped U.S. Sen. John Kerry raise money during his failed 2004 presidential run, gave $2,300 to Obama and $500 to Clinton.

"It's really a dilemma," she said, noting that the Obama-Clinton choice was heavily debated during holiday parties she attended. "I really admire Hillary and she'd make a great president. I'm concerned that her message isn't what the country wants right now. The election is going to be about change."

But Holtzworth said she's undecided, partly because of the lure of electing the nation's first female president.

"I was raised in the 70's by a mother who came of age with Betty Friedan," she said of the feminist and author. "It's been a difficult choice for a lot of women. I'd be happy with either of them, frankly."

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd was third among Democrats, with $590,000 raised in Massachusetts.

Source: Boston.com

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