Posted on 11/18/2010 1:50:19 PM PST by markomalley
Meeting with major Democratic donors in Washington this week, George Soros urged them to pressure the Obama administration to focus on liberal policy priorities including climate change and immigration reform, which are considered non-starters with Republicans set to assume control of the House.
Soros, a billionaire who has been among the most generous donors to liberal causes over the years, has recently indicated he no longer intends to fund the kind of independent political advertising campaigns he backed in 2004 and that Republican allies used to bombard Democrats in the midterm elections.
During a private session Wednesday on the sidelines of a conference of major Democratic donors organized by the Democracy Alliance, Soros reiterated the position that wealthy liberals should focus their giving on groups that will push President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats on liberal legislative initiatives, rather than groups supporting individual candidates, according to a source in the meeting.
“George was talking about how, in the context of the election, progressives are disappointed, and that they should keep (the administration) focused on certain issues that we should be promoting,” said the source, who did not want to be identified because Democracy Alliance bars attendees from discussing its conferences.
Soros, who is a member of the alliance, arrived at the conference Tuesday afternoon, attended a Wednesday lunch and a couple member meetings at the swank Washington hotel hosting the conference, and left town before the Wednesday night dinner marking the end of the three-day gathering.
Democracy Alliance, which was created after George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection, requires its members to pay annual dues starting at $15,000 to support member activities including its twice-a-year conferences, which feature a mix of policy briefings and socializing. Its staff vets and recommends non-profit groups to which its members can contribute.
Members are required to contribute a minimum of $100,000 to recommended groups, which have primarily focused on policy, issue advocacy and voter mobilization, and not campaign advertising.
The feeling at the member meetings was that the alliance’s approach to giving had been successful in shaping the political debate and that the GOP’s landslide midterm election victory resulted partly from a messaging failure, the source said.
“There was a lot of discussion about the election and about whether there was a failure in being able to deliver a strong message to voters,” the source said. “There were different views about how that might be improved and whether the Democracy Alliance can play a role in that, and there was a recognition that the coming political environment is going to be very difficult for progressives once the Republican Congress takes over.”
In addition to Soros, POLITICO reported Tuesday that the donors who attended the conference included former Stride Rite chairman Arnold Hiatt, hedge fund financier Donald Sussman, electronics pioneer Bill Budinger, real estate developer Wayne Jordan and Suzanne Hess, the wife of real estate mogul Lawrence Hess.
The Huffington Post on Wednesday reported that several sources quoted Soros as saying in Wednesday’s private session that “if this president can't do what we need, it is time to start looking somewhere else.”
Soros was not suggesting that progressives mount a 2012 primary challenge to President Barack Obama from the left, but rather that “liberals need to be more forceful and should create pressure from the left” to keep their issues on the legislative radar, Michael Vachon, a Soros adviser, told POLITICO.
Vachon declined to discuss Soros’s comments further, saying the session “was a private, informal conversation among the partners and there was no expectation that it was public.”
lots of articles demanding that obama not compromise and that gop should compromise
It is apparent that George Soros considers himself Fuhrer of the World.
He hasn’t move to China, Yet.
She would be the one to actually codify and implement all of the legislation that Obama rams through. A win win because Hillary is much more effective organizationally, disciplined and detail oriented.
It has to be obvious that Obama is not talented or competent enough to implement all of the legislative victories they have won in the 2 years.
If that was not the original plan, you can bet it's on the minds of quite a few Democrat supporters who are beginning to realize Obama's limitations
The GOP seem to assume that it will be business as usual with Obozo when the very opposite is true. The guy is an ideologue and he will not compromise, he just doubles down everytime he loses; a bad gambling strategy but very confusing to political enemies. Expect the unexpected!
It is apparent that George Soros considers himself Fuhrer of the World.
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Uh huh...
he is right. oblabo should never, EVER compromise with the repubs. as a matter of fact he should run hard to the left now so that his base (aka wackos) will love him and worship him even more. he should probably also start telling people straight out that they are too stupid to understand his awesomeness. he should declare himself the king of america and insist on being called “his righteous, most wonderful, almighty, majesty”. if he does all these things i am 10000% sure the next election will be even more entertaining than the last one. keep listening to the base and the communist, barry!
lots of articles demanding that obama not compromise and that gop should compromise
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Good! No spending!
But ... what happens to war and military spending?
Better start praying and repenting of sin, if we’re gonna make it.
How did this foreign Nazi collaborator come to have so much power in the USA? Why is he even here?
Naw, he just wants it to be like the good old days: when a politician that was bought stayed bought.
WOW I actually agree with that Communist wannabe, America hater, Soros. But for a different reason.
Yes I want Obama to keep pushing the laftist agenda that the American people just soundly rejected at the voting booth.
Please Please push cap and trade, allowing illegals to rome the country and homos to spread through the military.
Then in 2012 we can get rid of the rest of the Rats in Congress and Obama and get this Country back on track...
It sounds like Soros understands the American people no better than Obama does.
I guess you have to be born here to really “get” our culture.
Soros, ¨You´re a bum. Drop dead with your money!¨
It is all about money for Soros, and the biggest score in history.
He has made vast “bets” against the USA. The mega billion dollar pay-offs to Soros occur only if Obama/Pelosi/Reid are successful in destroying US currency.
On the one hand dems get money from Soros - (short run wonderful) - on the other hand dems offend most of their constituents, almost all the moderates, and all the conservatives (long run disaster). It's a 'win' for our side.
The bonus: as Soros's ideas take over dems, fewer rational liberal groups will donate. Making them more and more dependent on the fringe nuts.
Go for it, dems. Pay attention to Soros - he's your future.
Guess Soros hasn’t seen the Newsweek cover—or, on second thought, did he design it?
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