Meet Obama's Bundlers: Hollywood, Corporate One-Percenters

A look at some of President Barack Obama’s most prominent bundlers may reveal interests Obama will favor if he wins a second term–namely, corporate welfare for millionaires in the entertainment, financial, and legal industries. 

Business Insider compiled some of the most interesting bundlers. In Hollywood, pop star Gwen Stefani bundled $500,000; Harvey Weinstein, whose movie about the bin Laden raid had originally cast Mitt Romney as a villain, raised more than $500,000; and Spike Lee raised between $200,000 and $500,000. They have been some of Obama’s most prominent supporters that have used their celebrity to promote his reelection. 

Among politicians, Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor of Florida who lost his 2010 Senate primary after publicly embracing the President at a campaign event, raised $100,000 to $200,000. There are rumors Crist may want to run for governor of Florida in 2014 as a Democrat, and he may need Obama’s support. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Patrick Kennedy were also Obama bundlers. 

Blackstone COO Tony James served on Obama’s White House Export Council and raised more than $500,000. According to Business Insider, his name is being floated around in financial circles “as a possible replacement for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.”

Robert Wolf, the former chairman and CEO for UBS Group who left the company after the board disapproved of his public support for Obama, raised at least $500,000. 

David Cohen, the executive vice president of Comcast, and his wife Rhonda raised $500,000 or more. Comcast owns NBC.

And Washington, D.C. trial lawyer Keith Harper bundled at least $500,000, showing how powerful the trial lawyers are in influencing Democrats. Business Insider notes “trial lawyers like Harper are some of the president’s biggest fundraisers this election cycle. 

In Obama’s first term, some of his most prominent donors and bundlers received government-backed loans and preferential treatment. Labor unions received preferential treatment on bailouts, as did Wall Street donors. Green energy disasters like Solyndra occurred because the Obama administration favored those who had bundled donations for his campaign despite his campaign promise to end the “pay-to-play” culture in Washington, D.C.