THE GURUS | JULIANNA SMOOT
The $75 Million Woman
Barack Obama's finance director helped transform a fledgling campaign into a fundraising machine
By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 8, 2007; Page A01
On a frigid day in early January, Barack Obama rode the three blocks from the Capitol to a nondescript, four-story, white-brick building where he had rented a spartan office suite. Obama pulled out a folding chair and sat down with Julianna Smoot, the veteran Democratic fundraiser he had hired to raise the millions of dollars he would need for a presidential bid. Smoot thumbed through a thin list of potential donors that Obama had gathered during his 2004 Senate bid in Illinois and as he helped other politicians raise money for elections in 2006. She frowned.
"It wasn't much to work with," Smoot recalled. "But that was how we started. He asked me what he should do, and I said, 'Start calling. And don't forget to ask for their credit card numbers.' "
That was the beginning of a fundraising juggernaut that, perhaps more than any other single factor, helped transform Obama into a serious contender for the presidency. By the end of September, the senator from Illinois had raised more money for his primary bid than any other candidate in either party -- more than $75 million. He did it not simply by using the new possibilities of the Internet, for which he has received considerable attention, but by creating almost overnight a network of "bundlers" -- a core group of motivated supporters with the Rolodexes to bring along friends and associates....
***
Over the weekend, Smoot met in Iowa with more than 100 members of Obama's national finance committee, a group of bundlers she helped recruit. She and others with the campaign repeated what Obama's aides have maintained: Ignore the national polls and focus on Iowa and New Hampshire. Together, they mapped out a packed schedule of fourth-quarter fundraising events -- proof, they said, that the campaign is still on track. And they reminded the group that they consider the Clintons, while fierce opponents, visages of the past.
"All Democrats respect and admire the Clintons and are grateful for what they've done. But people want someone different now," Smoot said. "And you know what?" she added, her tone softening as if she was about to share a secret: "It's not a hard sell."...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/07/AR2007100701435.html?hpid=topnews 
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