LAKEWOOD, N.J. — Lawrence E. Bathgate II is on the phone, tallying contributions for President Bush's 152nd fundraiser, which he is co-chairing. "He'll have his 10 by next week," he says. Another man, he says, has "eight, not four," which is an unexpected surprise. Another "is coming out of the hospital today. He's good for 10."
Bathgate is counting in the thousands, of course. The checks arrive at his law office in packages, bundles of contributions of no more than $2,000, collected by friends, associates and business contacts.
Multimillionaire lawyer, developer, banker and veteran GOP fundraiser, Bathgate is one of hundreds of volunteers who have helped Bush's reelection campaign amass more than $175 million in nine months, the most ever collected in a presidential race. Much of the money has been collected at fundraisers, like the one featuring Vice President Dick Cheney that Bathgate helped organize last week.
Now that the Bush campaign has reached its record-breaking goal, it is ending its string of fundraising events headlined by Bush and Cheney. On Monday, the president will appear at a final fundraising lunch in Charlotte, Va.
Bathgate says he has collected more than $500,000 for the campaign, and his techniques offer a glimpse into the Bush money machine and how it proved so successful. He not only tapped people he knew for money, he persuaded them to reach out to others. Before long, his Rolodex expanded exponentially.
The Bush campaign, meanwhile, has kept track of how much he and other major fundraisers collected,creating a type of rivalry among them.
"They're doing such an amazing job of getting people's competitive juices going," said Kirk Jowers, a Republican election lawyer in Washington. "As I talk to people around town, it's like watching my daughter and her friends sell Girl Scout cookies. Who can raise the most money?"
Bathgate is just one of 187 so-called Rangers who have each collected $200,000 or more in contributions. Another 268 Pioneers have each raised $100,000. And 32 Mavericks, who are 40 or younger, have funneled at least $50,000 to the president's campaign.
These efforts have given Bush a huge financial edge over Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee. But Bush's national finance director, Travis Thomas, said the campaign would continue raising money.
At its current rate through direct mail solicitations alone, the campaign will reach the $200-million mark by summer.
