Beto's hiring of Jen O'Malley Dillon is a signal

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10. "Beto Is in His Own Lane"

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/the-democratic-money-guys-like-what-beto-orourke-is-selling
“Beto Is in His Own Lane”: The Democratic Money Guys Like What O’Rourke Is Selling
On Wall Street, the donor class is keeping a close eye on who’s got the business acumen to go the distance. “I thought Bernie’s number was crazy amazing, and Beto just beat it,” says one Democratic fund-raiser. “My gut tells me that the grassroots support for this guy is going to be off the charts.”
by William D. Cohan
March 21, 2019 4:28 pm

Robert Wolf, Barack Obama’s old friend and favorite Wall Street banker, has spent the last few months scouring the vast Democratic 2020 landscape—talking to potential Democratic presidential candidates, carefully taking their pulse, and gauging their political skills. “I have been friends with many of the potential candidates,” Wolf told me earlier this year. “I’ve already met with a bunch of them or talked to them about their plans to enter.” In short, Wolf is attempting to determine who might light a fire among the electorate in the way he correctly perceived that Obama could—and did—more than a decade ago. Even more succinctly, he’s looking for a candidate who can beat Donald Trump.

Wall Street bundlers have always occupied an often uncomfortable position on the left. Wolf was one of the few Wall Street bankers who proudly supported Obama. (Many rolled their eyes at having to go through Valerie Jarrett to get to Obama.) In the last election cycle, Hillary Clinton was pilloried for giving paid speeches, around $225,000 a pop, to Goldman Sachs, among other big financial institutions. This time around, Kirsten Gillibrand invoked ire on the left by seeking the support of the banking establishment. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke raised about $6 million apiece during their first 24 hours on the trail, largely through small donations, far from the money centers. Regardless, Wolf remains an important player in the process, whether the candidates need his money and that of other Wall Street bigwigs or not. He remains a Wall Streeter who, based on his relationship with Obama, even Democrats have learned to love.

Wolf himself is waiting to pick a favorite until the field winnows. He told me recently that he doesn’t agree with Sanders’s policy agenda, but he was impressed by his ability to raise $10 million in less than a week. Wolf is even more impressed by Beto’s start. “I thought Bernie’s number was crazy amazing, and Beto just beat it,” he told me. “My gut tells me that the grassroots support for this guy is going to be off the charts. I think his road trip from first primary state of Iowa, to the blue wall of Michigan, to Ohio, to Pennsylvania, and then to second primary state of New Hampshire is going to really resonate with grassroots voters and the antithesis of a guy like President Trump coming in his own private plane.” Wolf was careful to point out that it was too early to judge O’Rourke’s true trajectory. But, he added, “it certainly feels” he will be “one of those top three or four people that have the name recognition, the grassroots following, and the money to be in it for a long time.”

Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman, the co-founder of an eponymous communications firm, agreed that O’Rourke could be a contender, but that he’ll face new challenges as a national candidate. “When Beto was running against Ted Cruz, he looked like the angel because he ran against the devil,” Zimmerman said. “Now, we’re in a different environment, where there are a lot of folks of ability that are running. He’s going to have to make his case.” Beto faces other potential obstacles, too, such as recent reports on the juvenile writings and indiscretions of his youth. (O’Rourke, who was arrested for a D.W.I. in his twenties, once belonged to a hacking group called Cult of the Dead Cow.) But, as one powerful Democratic bundler told me, O’Rourke was wise to socialize his mistakes early. Clinton, the bundler continued, had ceded the unflattering story about her e-mails to (mostly unfriendly) others. Obama, on the other hand, had leaned into his own baggage. “I think Obama kind of taught everyone that early on with the Reverend Wright stuff,” he said. “You take it squarely on, and then you own the narrative.”