Obama and Romney look overseas for campaign cash
IN the hunt for campaign money, no distance is too far to travel, especially when the race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney is tight and likely to stay that way before the November election.
Both have been aggressively courting Americans living abroad, raising money to pay for what may be the most expensive election in US history and galvanizing a largely untapped group of eligible voters. The practice is legal and has been used for decades, said former Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason.
Obama has raised nearly $ 600,000 from Americans abroad while Romney has brought in about $ 325,000, according to campaign finance records analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics. Those figures don't include sums raised overseas by the Democratic and Republican party committees or Romney's take from fundraising in London during his visit there last week.
One of Romney's London fundraisers raised eyebrows because the guest list included executives from Barclays, which recently admitted that bank employees were involved in manipulating a key market index. US and British agencies fined the bank nearly half a billion dollars and Bob Diamond, who resigned as CEO, pulled out of the fundraiser. He had already given Romney's campaign the maximum individual donation of $ 2,500.
A separate group of potential donors awaited Romney in Israel, the second stop on the former Massachusetts governor's three-country tour. But Romney again attracted unwanted attention when his campaign announced it would break with its own precedent by barring reporters from covering a fundraiser at a swanky Jerusalem hotel. A day later, his campaign reversed course and said reporters could cover Romney's remarks to donors. An invitation for the Monday event put the minimum ticket price at $50,000 per couple — plus a copy of a US passport. Romney advisers said the event was expected to raise more than $ 1 million.
Romney has vigorously courted Jewish and pro-Israel voters at home and in the Jewish state, hoping to capitalize on the perception by some that Obama hasn't been supportive enough of the critical US ally. A delegation of Romney supporters, including former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, recently went to Israel to register eligible US voters.
Obama surrogates have been seen at fundraisers in Shanghai, Paris and London. Next month, actor George Clooney will headline an Obama fundraiser in Geneva, Switzerland. Guests can attend for $ 1,000. A $ 5,000 donation includes a photo reception, and a $30,000 contribution buys dinner for two.
