Convention organizers look elsewhere for cash

Having squeezed what they can from corporate donors in Boston, the organizers of the Democratic National Convention say they are setting their sights on Washington and focusing particularly on the corporate interests that look to curry favor by donating to the national parties.

Boston 2004, the group running the Boston convention, will hit up Washington lobbyists representing federally regulated industries that have traditionally donated to national parties and political figures, organizers said. Those potential donors include healthcare companies, banks, and utilities that can help the Boston organizers raise another $5 million to $6 million, said the organizers, who spoke on condition they not be identified. Convention organizers have repeatedly refused to detail the convention's budget and how much money they have raised. The convention's original budget was $49.5 million, but organizers said last month they expect security costs to increase the total to about $65 million. The Globe reported last month that the organizers said they were within striking distance of their goal of more than $30 million in private donations.

David A. Passafaro, the committee's president, declined yesterday to discuss details of the fund-raising, including how much he and his colleagues needed to raise. But he confirmed that the committee is reaching out to national corporations and trade groups that have donated to past Democratic conventions, as well as to the Republican Party's convention in New York, scheduled for September.

"We have reached out to lobbyists and some other friends in D.C. who represent these companies on a national basis," Passafaro said.

He described the corporate interests as those that are "in the process down in Washington all the time." The committee is looking to hold fund-raising events in Washington in the next few months.

The committee, according to one member, is looking for fund-raising help from such powerful Washington insiders as Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a law firm that operates an influential government relations practice, and Cassidy & Associates, a large national lobbying firm whose clients include Boston University.

Passafaro declined to identify any of the potential donors or those who have already contributed. One committee source said the effort has collected about $1 million in the month or so since the committee identified a list of national contributors.

The committee is also expected to raise another $4 million or more through in-kind donations, mostly from technology firms willing to contribute their resources to the convention operation. A small part of the in-kind donations would also come from service and hospitality industry operators, such as those that provide food and liquor. In return, those companies would receive exposure during the convention.

A US Supreme Court decision last year upheld the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law that bans soft money and corporate donations to political parties. But the decision also gave an opening for the Boston host committee to target some of the large national corporate donors who were holding back on commitments to fund the convention, not knowing how the court would rule. Because the committee is a nonprofit group, it can legally accept soft money.

"The court ruling has provided a real opportunity to solicit funds from national corporate donors who were tentative about contributing while they were awaiting the court's decision," said Cheryl Cronin, a Boston lawyer who is general counsel to Boston's host committee.

The ruling also came at a crucial time for the Boston organizers. Some say the local corporate community, which pledged $20 million in cash commitments when the city bid for the convention, has little left to offer.

"We've tapped out Boston," said one host committee member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The committee also faces strong opposition on Beacon Hill for potential state funds. Governor Mitt Romney, in an interview last month with the Globe, said he is opposed to using taxpayer money for the convention.

"I have made it, I think, very clear, from the very beginning that the state taxpayers should not finance a convention, Republican, Democratic, or private sector," Romney said. "The convention should stand [on] its own. It should raise the money it needs to be held."

Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, predicted that the $25 million recently appropriated by Congress for convention security wouldn't cover the entire bill.

"In the case of the Olympics, neither the state nor the city of Salt Lake City picked up one dollar of the costs of the Olympics," Romney said in the interview last month. "It was entirely paid for by the federal government, providing transit and security moneys, or by the Olympic Committee and its sponsors paying for the rest of security and all the other costs."

Passafaro rejected the idea that donations from the Greater Boston corporate community have dried up. He said the companies had "stepped up to the plate" and gotten the committee well on its way to meeting its budget goals, pointing out that the Boston organizers are ahead of the efforts that were carried out at the two previous Democratic conventions.

"We are in good shape," he said, adding that Democratic Party chairman Terry McAuliffe and Mayor Thomas M. Menino are both "very confortable" with the donation levels.

One potential donor is Bank of America, whose purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. is expected to be finalized in April. Fleet has already donated $1.25 million. But with the sale the Democrats are expected to try to squeeze more out of the North Carolina-based bank.

The organizers are also encouraged by the resurgence of US Senator John F. Kerry, the hometown candidate.

"This is a huge boost for the convention organizers," said Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the state Democratic Party.