[IMO, billionaires are axiomatically bad.]
The Plutocrats Of Democrats Go Bloomberg
By Jessica Bruder
Last month, Steven Rattner, the multimillionaire financier, former New York Times reporter and Democratic fund-raiser, turned heads—and raised more than a few hackles—when he took charge of Democrats for Bloomberg, the incumbent Mayor’s aisle-crossing outreach committee. Mr. Rattner’s role was unveiled less than 14 hours after the polls closed on a lackluster Democratic primary, and he was joined by an elite cadre of wealthy Democrats whom, by and large, he had recruited himself.
In the following weeks, the local Democratic Party seemed too distracted to worry about the klatch of high-profile defectors. Who would dare discipline, or even criticize, a major campaign donor? Call it impunity of the purse. In a recent interview with The Observer, Mr. Rattner flaunted his new leadership role.
“I typically support Democratic candidates, but I think slavery has been abolished in this country and I’m free to make a decision on a case-by-case basis,” Mr. Rattner said, noting that he’d never signed a “lifetime contract” with the Democratic Party.
What’s more, Mr. Rattner added: “I can’t think of a single active Democrat in New York who’s supporting Freddy Ferrer. And when I say active Democrats, I mean the people in our world, who help raise money for Presidential candidates and things like that.” ...
<http://www.observer.com/pageone_newsstory1.asp>
Carl