Mass. appeal
In the Bay State and nationally, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are in a fierce battle over who can raise the most campaign money in their bids for the White House.
Barack Obama has Harvard professors, lawyers, and a former McGovernite turned Arlington bakery owner. Hillary Clinton has politicians, construction executives, and Provincetown Banner publisher Alix Ritchie.
Obama dominates in Cambridge, Newton, and Weston. Clinton owns Boston, Chestnut Hill, and Waltham.
Much has been made about the battle nationally between these two titans of presidential fund-raising, who are neck-and-neck in the so-called money primary after shaking the trees aggressively over the past few months. Clinton raised about $26 million in the first quarter of 2007, with Obama trailing by a few hundred thousand dollars.
Here in Massachusetts, which has long functioned as a big checkbook for Democrats, the competition has been just as fierce. And the Bay State pattern mirrors what has happened overall: Clinton has edged Obama in the amount raised, $980,000 to $919,000. But Obama has dozens more donors, many of whom gave small amounts.
Both Obama and Clinton went to school in the area -- he received a degree from Harvard Law School; she graduated from Wellesley College. So far, Obama has been more successful in tapping his alma mater, though he was at Harvard much more recently.
Obama collected about $76,000 in the first quarter from nearly three-dozen donors affiliated with Harvard, including several law school professors. Two well-known ones, constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe and former civil rights lawyer for the Justice Department, Lani Guinier, each gave $2,300, the maximum individual contribution. Clinton collected about $22,000 from the Harvard community, including $1,000 from author and law school professor Alan Dershowitz.
But the only person from Wellesley College who gave to Clinton was the college president, Diana Chapman Walsh, who contributed $4,400. (Clinton, much more so than Obama, raised money for both the primary and the general election, allowing her to collect up to $4,600 per person.)
Clinton has made more inroads among Massachusetts politicians past and present. Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, state Senator Marc R. Pacheco of Taunton, and Shannon O'Brien, former state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate, are with her, as is former House speaker Charles F. Flaherty, who sent her $1,000.
"She'll come to the job better-prepared than most anybody in the history of the country," said Flaherty, who expects to be active in her campaign.
Obama has turned to some of Boston's white-shoe law firms, collecting about $15,000 combined from Foley Hoag, Mintz Levin, and Greenberg Traurig. Clinton, meanwhile, received contributions from local construction magnates such as the chief executive of Suffolk Construction Co., John Fish, who, with his wife contributed $4,600, and developer Jay Cashman, who gave $2,000.
Industries aside, Obama and Clinton each have some well-known figures on their Massachusetts donor lists. In Obama's case, there are a few surprises: Boston Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck gave $4,600 despite not giving generously to Democratic candidates in the past, and Staples founder Thomas Stemberg , who has a long record of backing Republicans, chipped in $2,300.
"You don't give to causes, you give to friends," said mystery writer Robert Parker of Cambridge, who contributed $4,600 to Obama. "Larry Tribe asked me to contribute to Obama, and so I did." But Parker added that while he would like to see Obama win the nomination, "I'm not an enthusiastic political supporter of anyone."
And prominent civil liberties lawyer Harvey A. Silverglate kicked in $500, saying he has been impressed at how Obama is willing to speak his mind. "I got my money's worth so far. We'll see what happens," said Silverglate, who rarely gives to political candidates. "I've been disappointed before. What did [Ronald] Reagan say about the Soviets, trust but verify?"
Clinton has in her corner Cambridge philanthropist and activist Barbara Lee; Jill Medvedow, director of the Institute of Contemporary Art; Thomas and George Carney, who run the Raynham Park dog track; and Mary Breslauer, a long time Democratic activist and gay-rights advocate.
"I get very jazzed about working for someone who I think is the most highly qualified candidate who might also happen to make history," Breslauer said.
Beyond the prominent names lie many lesser-known contributors, including some who have never been active in politics.
For Barbara Weniger, who runs Lakota Bakery in Arlington, it hasn't been quite that long. But it's been a while.
Weniger worked on George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign. Last year, when she reunited with her old political associates at a library dedication for McGovern at Dakota Wesleyan University, they decided to get active in the 2008 race, she said. Several gravitated toward Obama.
"It's not all about the one candidate who's going to change everything," said Weniger, who contributed $2,300. "It's about inspiring all of us to make the changes we need to make. I think he can do that in people."
But another small business owner, Suzanne O'Neill, who runs Main Street Shoe Repair in Wakefield, likes Clinton because she is experienced and battle-tested.
"She's like the modern Valkyrie -- she's withstood the arrows, the blows, the humiliations," said O'Neill, who contributed $1,000. "She's still standing, she's tougher than ever, she's smarter than ever."
In their quest for dollars, Obama and Clinton have each turned to veteran, nationally known Massachusetts fund-raisers -- Clinton to Steve Grossman, Obama to Alan D. Solomont. Both see a lot of potential in Massachusetts going forward.
The Clinton campaign seeks to expand its donor base through more low-dollar events, recruiting first-time contributors, and courting supporters of her husband, former president Bill Clinton, Grossman said.
"There's a good, fertile, broad cross-section of people who are largely untapped to date, and we want to make sure they feel involved and engaged," he said.
Obama, who Solomont said drew 5,500 people -- including 4,000 students -- to a fund-raiser last month at Boston University, will continue reaching out to a diverse group of potential donors, including young adults whom the campaign dubs "Generation O."
"We want to build on that and continue on that going forward," he said.
Both candidates will also rely on their spouses: Obama's wife, Michelle, and the former president are both expected to headline events in the Boston area in the next month.
But even with the ongoing duel between Clinton and Obama in Massachusetts, both have to work much harder to catch their home-grown rival across the aisle: Mitt Romney raised $2.1 million in the Bay State in the first quarter, more than both of them combined.
Scott Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com. 