Presidential aspirants arrive with hands out

By Susan Vaughn - August 23, 2007

Anyone who wants to support and see in person a favorite Democratic presidential candidate has several opportunities in the next few days on the Vineyard.

Here's what a donation will get you: $50 for two hours with Hillary Clinton and about 1,900 others in the Oak Bluffs Tabernacle or a chance to mingle with John Edwards and 500 or so supporters on a Chilmark lawn. For $1,000, you can have cocktails with the Clintons on the lawn of an Edgartown home or with Barack Obama in an Oak Bluffs yard, and for $2,300, you may be invited inside for a "private chat" with either Mr. Obama or Ms. Clinton.

Some Democratic loyalists met Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean last week at an informal lawn reception in Oak Bluffs, which drew more than 200 at $50 each.

Republicans had their chance last Saturday to meet former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, one of several GOP presidential candidates, at a reception at the home of Kate and Jim Sims in Oak Bluffs. That reception also was divided into groups according to the amount donated. For $500 a donor got into a general reception; $1,000 allowed donors into a leadership reception and $2,300 got a photo opportunity and the leadership reception.

And if you have no money to contribute, you still may be able to find a spot on the Trinity Park lawn outside the Tabernacle for "A Vineyard Evening with Hillary and President William Jefferson Clinton." All 1,800 seats inside the Tabernacle have been sold as well as the 100 seats added at the back, said Nancy Parrish of Vineyard Haven, co-chairman of the Clinton Tabernacle event with Bonnie Berger of Chilmark. Ms. Parrish said she has been active in the Hillary Clinton campaign, chairing events in California.

These are the price points for what one Democratic organizer called "a political trifecta" of Martha's Vineyard fund-raisers in the next five days for the three top Democratic Party presidential contenders, who tout themselves as representing the "people's party." The $50 tickets are an apparent effort by two of the candidates to be more accessible to less affluent Vineyarders.

"The best part is the grassroots aspects," Ms. Parrish said of the Clinton event at the Tabernacle. Those tickets, which were available from 80 mostly local Democrats, went quickly, but the free lawn seating is open to all, and especially geared to families with children, the organizers said.

Emcees for The Tabernacle event, from 5-7 pm Saturday, will be actors Mary Steenbergen and Ted Danson, long-time Clinton friends and supporters, and entertainment will be provided by "Island families, both known and not-so-well known," Ms. Parrish said. The performers' names were not available at press time.

Following the Tabernacle event, the Clintons will meet higher profile donors at the Edgartown waterfront home of Frank Biondi, a former chief executive of Universal Studios and Viacom, and his wife, Carol. A $1,000 donation will gain a person entrance to the lawn cocktail party at 7 pm and a $2,300 donation will ostensibly get something more, but it wasn't clear yet what that will be, Ms. Parrish said.

The cocktail party reception with John Edwards, his wife, Elizabeth, and possibly their two young children, is also geared as an informal affair open to the public. "It's in contrast with the typical fund-raiser and consistent with the ethos of the {Edwards} campaign," host Alex MacDonald said.

In a different twist, for each additional $50, Edwards' supporters are encouraged "to bring someone from the Martha's Vineyard community who would not normally be able to attend," Mr. MacDonald said. For $500, you can bring nine guests, the Edwards ads say.

In contrast to the lower priced Clinton and Edwards fund-raisers, the Obama event on Tuesday evening will be a more private, higher priced affair at the Oak Bluffs home of Judy and Ron Davenport. The $1,000 contributors can gather on the Davenports' lawn at 7 pm for cocktails after the larger donors (who give the $2,300 individual legal limit) have a chat inside with Mr. Obama, Ms. Davenport said.

Mr. Edwards's first official Vineyard fund-raiser will be at 6 pm Friday at the home of Mr. MacDonald and his wife, Dr. Maureen Strafford, on Lagemann Lane in Chilmark. Mr. MacDonald, an Edwards supporter and campaign worker since 2002, said he has had up to 500 people on his lawn, and if more than that sign up, he said, "We'll find space." People wanting to attend the reception should call the Boston Edwards campaign headquarters.

"We're thrilled to be part of this political trifecta," said Mr. MacDonald, a Boston lawyer who is Massachusetts financial chairman for the Edwards campaign, and was just named "designated representative" from the state for 2007-08. Dr. Strafford is a physician and professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.

The couple met the Edwardses at a Washington, D.C., dinner party in 2002, and the next day John Edwards called Mr. MacDonald and asked him to be Massachusetts campaign chairman for his 2004 presidential run, which he had not yet announced. Mr. MacDonald, who hadn't been involved in politics since he supported Robert Kennedy in 1968, said, "Why not?"

Mr. MacDonald and Dr. Strafford have become staunch supporters and "extremely close friends" of John and Elizabeth Edwards, Mr. MacDonald said. "They're amazing people, and what America's all about - through education and force of personality, you can transform your life," he said, adding that he grew up in the Dorchester section of Boston in a similar background to that of Mr. Edwards.

Although anyone can attend the Edwards event for $50, Mr. MacDonald said he expects some bigger donors as well.

"There are a number of people in love with this guy who want to give more," he said. He expects there might be a small pre-event gathering for those supporters. Twenty of those, listed as "host committee" in ads for the event, include accomplished medical doctors, corporate executives and lawyers, and a couple of novelists, including the former chairman of Common Cause.

Local Obama supporter AnnMarie Wilkins helps raise money for the campaign, and is a neighbor of the Davenports. She and her husband, David, have known Senator Obama since he attended Harvard Law School, where her husband teaches. She said Mr. Obama is happy to be coming to the Vineyard, but is "slipping in quietly" without the usual campaign fanfare.

Katie Hogan, spokesman at Mr. Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters, described his Vineyard stopover as an "invitation only, private affair." She said there is no information available on the event since it is not open to the public.

However, the campaign has run a local ad for the event, which invites people who want to be a "guest" for a $1,000 donation or a "sponsor" for $2,300, to call a campaign worker in Boston. A separate Vineyard sign-up page is also available on the Obama web site.