Democrats to unions: Caucuses help you, so help pay for them

Michael J. Mishak and J. Patrick Coolican

Saturday, July 28, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

Organized labor has been largely reluctant to cover the cost of Nevada's Democratic presidential caucus es , even as unions receive the lion's share of attention from Democratic presidential candidates in Nevada.

With less than six months to go before the caucus es , unions have contributed relatively little toward the $2 million the Democrats need for the contest.

Nevertheless, Mike Sloan, the chief fundraiser, said the party is on track to hit the $1 million mark by mid-August. The party hopes to raise $2 million by the Jan. 19 caucus es , with most of the money going toward educating Nevada Democrats about their new role in helping select the next president and explaining to voters how the caucus process works.

The stakes are high: If the caucus es are a failure, if few Democrats turn out, or if the candidates or the national political news media question the integrity of the results, Nevada will never be part of presidential politics as it has this year, when major candidates have stumped the state well more than a dozen times already.

Most of the $800,000 given so far has come from businesses, and that source has all but dried up, said Sloan, a longtime Democratic operative and gaming consultant. Corporate donors are reluctant to give because they now see the caucus es serving primarily the unions' interests, he said.

Sloan couched his challenge in diplomatic terms.

"I don't know if the overwhelming attention paid only to labor unions is helping us raise money from the business community," he said. "To the extent that it has any adverse effects, we're going to have to work through it."

Sloan's fundraising effort will be helped by a private fundraiser next month at Lake Tahoe, set to coincide with a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of a 1997 environmental summit hosted by President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Gore is among the names being discussed as a featured guest at the fundraiser.

To make up the difference, Sloan said , the party's fundraising committee would again turn to the state's labor community. After all, the party had initially expected unions to cover half the cost of the caucus es , he said.

"Organized labor has had the spotlight in Nevada," Sloan said. "Given the attention that they've gotten, I'd like to see them make a significant contribution."

Among the labor contributors thus far are Unite Here (parent union of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas) and the two public employees unions - the SEIU and AFSCME, Sloan said.

Sloan would like to see those unions contribute more, and he's looking for other unions to give.

For its part, the Nevada AFL-CIO, an organization with 200,000 members statewide, is undertaking a parallel effort aimed at caucus education and voter turnout.

Part of the fundraising problem with wealthy benefactors is the obscure nature of the caucus es , Sloan said. People giving away large sums of their own money either like to rub a famous elbow or be recognized for their generosity. Giving money to the Democrats for the caucus es has thus far involved neither.

The $2 million Nevada Democrats hope to raise is twice the amount Iowa Democrats are projecting for their 2008 contest. The disparity is largely because of the money the party says it will need to promote the caucus es in a state that, until now, has been irrelevant in early presidential politics.

Caucus officials have said roughly $600,000 will go to advertising, education and outreach.

That effort is critical. Nevada Democrats have caucused in the past but never in large numbers, mostly because of the state's late position on the nomination calendar, rendering it inconsequential.

Turnout has often numbered only in the hundreds, hitting a record of about 9,000 voters in 2004. This time around, Democrats hope to attract as many as 100,000.

Ultimately Sloan is hoping the candidates will pitch in, much as they do in Iowa.

In 1976, the Iowa Democratic Party raised $4,000 to help defray caucus costs by selling tickets, at $10 a head and $1 a drink, so the public could watch the national reporters at work on election night.

Now the state party uses the caucuses as a vital fund raising tool, and the candidates pay tribute. Seven campaigns, including the now-defunct campaign of former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, have purchased the party's highly refined voter list this year, subscribing to what is known as the Voter Activation Network, or VAN.

For $100,000, each campaign gets a detailed list of registered Democrats, including individual voting histories and past campaign affiliations.

What makes the list so valuable? The state party incorporates each campaign's additions after every election cycle, refining the list even further and compiling what amounts to a master voter registry.

In Nevada, the voter file is much less sophisticated and fetches far less. According to federal campaign filings, at least four candidates have each paid at least $10,000 for the list. An extra $5,000 buys more refined data.

The Iowa Democratic Party also calls on the candidates to participate in two large fundraising events it hosts in the run-up to the caucuses: the Hall of Fame dinner in June and the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in November.

Some candidates go even further. In 2004, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina donated computer equipment worth thousands of dollars for use during the election cycle.