If B-listers make it on millions, so can you
By: Helena Andrews
July 11, 2007 03:34 PM EST





Talk about your high-class problems.

Even with the recent news of presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) forced to ax dozens of campaign workers because of cash flow issues, it's still hard to imagine that millions aren't enough to run a campaign.

But a few million is enough, according to some of the B-list candidates' staffers, one of whom eloquently equated McCain's spending to that of a drunken sailor. And as we saw this week, such extravagant ways may signal the campaign's undoing. State-based McCain minions couldn't even get their office supplies approved by the national headquarters lately.

For those pulling in just a fraction of the tens of millions raised in the second quarter by the Baracks and Hillarys of the race, making every dollar count is not just a campaign slogan, it's a promise.

When former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) traveled to New York from Washington about a month ago, he took the Vamoose bus line -- popular among Capitol Hillers and the like because tickets run 25 bucks each way (plus sometimes the driver plays karate movies).

"Well, I'll tell ya, we are the face card of campaigns that are underfunded," said Elliot Jacobson, who "right now" is speaking as Gravel's national field director but so far has held the titles "press liaison," "media liaison" and "director of communications." There are about five to six paid staffers working in the campaign's national office in Arlington, Va.

At the end of the first quarter in March, Gravel was at the bottom of the fundraising heap with about $100,000, according to the Federal Election Commission.

"We know how to live on a small budget. It doesn't bother us," Jacobson said.

Like the Gravel gang, other smaller outfits take an exacting pride in squeezing the copper off of each donated penny.

"We're kind of proud of our ability to do as much as they do with a whole lot less," said Roy Tyler, communications director for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who raised about $500,000 in the first quarter.

Team Hunter cuts costs by staying at the Best Western, as opposed to, say, the Sheraton or Sofitel, two hotel vendors listed in the FEC filings of megamillions candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).



"With us, it's pretty much business as usual," Tyler said of his campaign's financial planning for the future.

Most campaigns balked at the suggestion that McCain's problems would ever be their own.

"Yeah, we had fewer spa days," joked one representative when asked if the office had been scrambling to tighten its purse strings lately.

Alan Moore, press secretary for Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) -- who raised $1.3 million in the first quarter -- explained that for a grass-roots campaign, folks are more concerned with where they're going than how they will get there.

"We don't fly first class," said Moore, who made the aforementioned "drunken sailor" analogy. "There haven't been any memos going around saying, 'Spend less.' We all have kind of a general philosophy that hasn't changed."

Moore also said Tancredo only spends $15 for a haircut. So now maybe all investigations into a candidate's hair maintenance can cease forever.

Some campaigns say that running a tight ship could easily translate into more votes come November, since hard-working Americans want to know who can stretch $1 million (or $1,000) the furthest.

"Our supporters have entrusted us with their contributions and we have looked to spend those in an efficient and wise way and will continue to do so," said Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). By the end of the second quarter, Dodd had about $6.5 million on hand.

If anything, the Rep. Ron Paul camp is "loosening the purse strings," said Jesse Benton, a spokesman for the Republican from Texas. They've just added three more staffers in Iowa and are moving to new, more spacious digs in Arlington, Va.

"We rent midsize cars and often fly Southwest," Benton said. "There's not a lot of going out to fancy dinners on the campaign tab. ... We've been able to do a lot with modest resources," he added. At the end of the first quarter, Paul had raised about $600,000.

Plus, there are minute silver-dollar linings in every operation. Recently Gravel's staff arranged for him to take the train to New York -- which, Jacobson added, "is the preferred way to go."

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