Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a secretive conference attended by about 150 rich liberals deciding how to divvy up their cash in the run-up to the 2012 election.
A variety of liberal groups pitched the donors throughout the three-day conference, including a network of Democratic outside groups hoping to raise upwards of $120 million to fund a sort-of shadow party effort supporting the reelection campaign of Biden and President Barack Obama.
Continue ReadingThe Obama campaign has said it will not raise money for these outside groups, though Biden gave his speech Thursday night only hours after the operatives running the shadow network wooed the same audience.
The setting was the annual winter meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a network of donors who are required to contribute a minimum of $100,000 to recommended liberal groups.
The alliance mostly has recommended groups that focus on policy and voter mobilization, rather than campaign advertising. But at this year?s conference, which wraps Saturday, big election spending groups got to make pitches, too.
The groups represented at the Thursday briefing ? Priorities USA, American Bridge, Majority PAC and House Majority PAC ? have struggled to raise money from wealthy liberals, some of whom have been disappointed in what they consider the insufficiently liberal course charted by the Obama administration. Others shied away from such unlimited spending because of Obama?s attacks on outside money as a distortion of the democratic process in 2010, when deep-pocketed Republican outside groups vastly outspent Democratic ones en route to the GOP?s landslide victories in the midterm elections.
Since then, though, Democrats have increasingly come to the realization that they need to compete with GOP outside groups like those conceived by Karl Rove, which intend to spend $300 million in the run-up to the 2012 elections boosting Republicans and attacking Democrats.
And while neither Biden?s office nor the Obama campaign answered questions about Biden?s speech, which was closed to the press, a source at the conference said Biden did not talk about outside election spending or fundraising.
?He addressed what he perceived to be some of the progressive grievances towards the administration, but campaign spending did not come up,? said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the conferences are by-invitation only and are closed to the press. ?Biden talked about the administration?s policies ? why they did what they did,? the source said.
Another source with knowledge of the Thursday morning presentation by outside spending groups said one donor openly urged fellow attendees to open their checkbooks early.
?We need to look at this strategically the way Republicans do ? giving money next October isn?t going to help,? the source recounted the donor saying.
In fact, there?s widespread concern in Democratic circles that if the pace of six- and even seven-figure checks written to outside groups doesn?t pick up, they could be powerless to help Democratic efforts to hold the Senate and the White House, let alone win back the House majority.
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