Rookie Mistake: Obama Loses Support of "The Group"



Being a charismatic silver-tongued smoothie like Barack Obama is a double edged sword. That very charm and newishness that catches the G-spot of the Party can impede the candidate and make him make mistakes that the seasoned pol might never make. Alexander Bolton, that noteworthy journo from TheHill writes:

"Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign may have missed out on millions of dollars by failing to return the calls of a small group of highly influential donors and operatives in New Jersey.

"The high-rollers, having waited in vain for more than a month for Obama’s campaign to get back in contact, signed up to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

"The coterie of Garden State Democrats supporting Clinton, which calls itself 'The Group,' plans to hold three fundraisers in April and May and to raise about $2 million for her campaign before the Feb. 5 state primary, said its leaders.

"Knowing that only three states raised more money for Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) presidential race in 2004, this year’s crop of White House hopefuls courted The Group intensely, particularly in light of its decision to switch to the early-primary date in February, a few weeks after the Iowa caucuses.

"Sens. Clinton, Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) each met privately with The Group. Biden even invited its members to his home in Delaware and spent six hours trying to convince them to support him.

"The Group includes John Graham, co-chairman of Kerry’s 2004 campaign in New Jersey, and Al DeCotiis, who served as New Jersey co-finance chairman for former Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 campaign and former President Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns.

"Before The Group decided whom to support, it tried for several weeks to get in touch with Obama but never received a response. 'They never got back to us,”'said DeCotiis, The Group’s co-founder, who said it tried to contact Obama’s campaign for 'five or six weeks' at the beginning of the year."

Oopsie. More here.