Specter hires Lieberman fundraiser

Timothy McNulty | May 12, 2009

Arlen Specter has hired Joe Lieberman's Dem fundraiser from 2006 and is poised to tap into a deep well of Jewish contributors, Politico says, but there are challenges ahead for the party-switcher:

He has a lot of work ahead of him. He's raised about $9 million for his reelection campaign next year and has about $7 million in the bank.

Given the cost of recent Keystone State Senate races, he'll need at least another $10 million and more if he winds up with a Democratic primary challenger, said Jennifer Duffy, an expert on Senate races at the Cook Political Report.

Most modern party switchers have managed to fill the void left by disenfranchised donors. Last week, Specter landed Democratic fundraiser Fran Katz Watson, who helped Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman raise cash fast after he lost the 2006 Democratic primary and ran for reelection in the general election as an independent.

But Specter's shift could produce some unexpected challenges for two reasons: He's done a full party switch rather than taking a half-step and becoming an independent, and he did it in the midst of the campaign season.

. . . The last Senate full-party switcher was then-Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who shifted from Democrat to Republican in 1995.

Like Specter, Campbell was considered a moderate willing to work across the partisan divide. When he was at fundraisers early in his career, some donors would whisper: "I'm a Republican, but I'm going to help you anyway." After his party switch, he went back to them and said: "Now you can help me without guilt."

But Campbell's campaign manager, Stuart Roy, said in an interview that there were some lessons learned after the switch that could be guideposts for Specter:

The number of people once enthusiastic about hosting fundraisers could shrink considerably. "Ben and the campaign thought these people were supporting him. It was a rude awakening to learn that some did, but most were supportive of the party and not him," Roy recalled.

Specter's new Democratic colleagues will help - to a point. Roy said Republican senators gave Campbell some donor referrals "but, from their perspective, they didn't want to rob Peter to pay Paul. They don't want to give you all their hosts."

Out-of-state fundraising events may feel a bit weird, given that Specter may not know many, if any, of the Democratic donors in the room. In addition, they may be more excited about pumping hands with Vice President Joe Biden or another Democratic headliner than with the new guy whom they may not yet trust. "He's not the world's most humble person, even for a U.S. senator, and it's going to be a humbling experience," Roy warned.

"Your direct mail, forget it," Roy said. "People who are writing $10 or $50 checks are almost all passionate on ideological issues. It's a disaster to even try that database. We did. It was a money loser. We didn't even break even."

Donors passionate about an issue are different and more loyal. In Campbell's case, they were people motivated by his work on Western issues, such as mining and water rights.

In Specter's case, they'll most likely include Jewish voters passionate about Israel. Those givers came to Lieberman's rescue in 2006, donating millions of dollars to his independent bid, even as the Democratic Party establishment put its weight behind its nominee, Ned Lamont.

The pro-Israel community alone could generate as much as $2 million for Specter's campaign, representing just a portion of the money that could be tapped from the Democratic Party's liberal, Jewish base, experts estimated.

"On balance, there will be more Jewish-American money that goes to him if he's a Democrat and if he has any kind of decent relationship with the caucus and the party," said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

"The strictly pro-Israel money is going to be with him whether he's a Democrat or a Republican," Forman added. "Those fundraising events have probably already begun, and that will go on uninterrupted."