On Aug. 6 this year, five billionaires and six liberals met at the Aspen Institute in Colorado?s Rocky Mountains and swore themselves to secrecy. They then concentrated on a single purpose: How to defeat Bush. The moneybags were Peter Shore, chairman of an insurance company called Progressive Corporation and owner of a 250-foot yacht, Lone Ranger, that is often his home; John Sperling from Arizona; Herb and Marion Sandler from California; and George Soros, king of Wall Street. Soros, who started with $6 million in 1969 and turned it into $7 billion, is the most public face of this alliance. He donates some $400 million a year to causes he likes. He believes Bush is terrible for the world, America and him, in that order. Officially the Kerry campaign keeps him at arm?s length, worried about any radical outburst. Clinton once kept him waiting so long that he had to send officials after him when he walked out. Soros was convinced in May that Bush could be defeated although the opinion polls put him so far ahead Kerry couldn?t see where the front-runner had gone. Since he is a Jew, right-wing attacks on him include more than a hint of racism. He says he is too old to care. His philosophy is simple. ?If I want it, I own it.?
