Big Donors Get Big Roles in Obama Transition

Brad Haynes and T.W. Farnam report on the transition. About half of President-elect Barack Obama’s record-breaking 3.1 million campaign contributors were small donors, but big givers are playing a big role in his transition team. Several transition team members announced today are major Democratic donors and “bundlers” who collect contributions from others, according to public records and disclosures by the Obama campaign. Two members, Reed Hundt , a senior adviser at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and former Federal Communications Commission chairman, and Tom Wheeler , a former lobbyist now at Core Capital Partners, appear to have been the most generous, giving about $100,000 each over the last three election cycles. Hundt, like other members, gave to both Obama and the Democratic Party. For the 2004 election, Hundt gave $2,750 to Obama’s Senate campaign. Last year, he gave $2,300 to his presidential campaign. In July, he gave $28,500 to the Democratic National ... (link)