A campaign fundraiser is quietly being organized for President Barack Obama by the chairman of MSU’s Board of Trustees in hopes that it could stimulate support for the president’s re-election bid among the university leaders, who have been reluctant to donate in recent elections.
MSU Trustee Joel Ferguson said he is planning with the president’s campaign advisers to host a fundraiser event, although he would not discuss details because negotiations still are in the works.
Ferguson would not confirm whether the event would be on MSU’s campus or if Obama had yet committed to attending.
“We’re going to try and get him here, we’re going to try and do something for him,” Ferguson said.
Campaign officials could not confirm the plans.
Such an event could help build financial support for Obama among the board’s Democratic majority — which has shown reluctance to back him with cash — during an election in which Michigan is widely seen as a key swing state.
No current trustee donated to Obama during this election or the 2008 race, contribution records from the Federal Election Commission show.
Only Melanie Foster, one of three Republicans on the eight-person board, has financially backed a candidate for the upcoming election, donating the maximum of $2,500 to Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s primary race in May 2011.
Although Foster could not be reached to comment for this article, she has said Romney’s family ties to MSU would give university officials more leverage in Washington.
Mitt Romney’s brother Scott Romney is a former MSU trustee.
“We, Michigan State University, (would) have an ear to the White House,” Foster said after listening to Mitt Romney speak at an Ingham County Republicans event in February. “That’s never happened in our history of 155 years. … Don’t discredit that.”
Meanwhile Ferguson, the board’s Democratic chairman, also has showed support from Romney in the past, although he said he strongly backs Obama. Ferguson donated $2,300 to both Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Romney for the 2008 primaries, but never donated to Obama that year.
Ferguson said his donation to Romney’s campaign was just a favor to Scott Romney, not a reflection of his political views.
“I did a favor for him in the Republican primary — it had nothing to do with him being President of the United States,” Ferguson said. “We’re just going to try to beat the devil out of him (in this year’s general election).”
Other Democrats also favored Clinton last time around. Trustee Dianne Byrum, a Democrat, donated $1,500 to Clinton’s primary bid, but did not donate to Obama’s campaign at any time during the 2008 election. Still, Byrum said she supports Obama for his re-election.
“I support President Obama completely,” Byrum said, adding she plans to make a donation of some amount before November.
The other current trustees have not donated to any recent presidential campaign.
Although presidential donations are almost nonexistent among the trustees so far, fundraising has yet to really heat up, said Rich Robinson, executive director of the Michigan Campaign Finance network, a nonpartisan watchdog group. There’s still plenty of time for candidates to fill their donation pools and donors to empty their wallets, he said, as the biggest spending won’t come until September or October.
“In general, there’s a heightened sense of urgency when you move toward election day,” Robinson said.
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