Chief among these would seem to be the man Philadelphians know as "David L." That would be David L. Cohen, the executive vice president of Comcast which is now the parent company of NBC -- as in MSNBC. Cohen was the driving force behind the political ascendancy of Ed Rendell, first as Mayor of Philadelphia and then as Governor.
Here's an excerpt from an interesting story in the Washington Post:
President Obama raised more than $1.2 million at two campaign fundraisers [in Philadelphia] Thursday night, the last events of his money-raising blitz in this early stage of the 2012 campaign.Click here to read more.
Campaign officials said about 800 people, each giving at least $100, attended the first event, at a Hyatt hotel. Later in the evening, Comcast’s executive vice president, David L. Cohen, hosted about 120 people in his home for a dinner, each of the attendees giving at least $10,000 for Obama’s reelection campaign.
Among the attendees were Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D). Dinner was arranged by restaurateur Stephen Starr, whose popular eateries include Morimoto and Buddakan.
Cohen, a longtime Democratic operative, has successfully sheparded the regulatory review of Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal earlier this year.
Of course, Philly is a longstanding Democrat/liberal bastion and will fall into line behind most any Democrat candidate.
But Pennsylvania is another matter. As Rendell himself has pointed out, Pennsylvania can hardly be considered a blue state. Indeed, in recent statewide elections Pennsylvania is trending red. Case in point: The election of Senator Pat Toomey. In fact, many believe that Senator Bob Casey will face a stiff GOP challenge when he comes up for re-election. Right now, the climate does not look good.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Because first, the Dems will have to win the Keystone State for Obama. And there's no chance that will happen without a huge Obama victory coming out of Philadelphia. Thus, Cohen & Co. have been enlisted.
The President hopes to raise $60 million (on his way to a BILLION dollar campaign) during this fund-raising cycle. If only Obama were as good at raising our economic level and generating jobs as he is at raising money for his own campaign.
BTW: Ever notice how skilled the President is at hobnobbing with corporate fat cats one day and lambasting corporate interests (as he launches into class warfare) the next? Now, that's a quick step.,
No comments:
Post a Comment