Obama Wins Over Chicago Fed's Canning, a Top Bush Fundraiser
By Jay Newton-Small
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- John Canning has impeccable Republican credentials: He was a Pioneer, one of President George W. Bush's top fundraisers. He's the head of a leveraged- buyout firm. He's the deputy board chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Now he has given the maximum campaign contribution, $4,600, to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Canning says he's fed up with the Republican Party. ``It's become a party that's taken Neanderthal positions on things like stem-cell research and global warming,'' Canning, who was appointed to the Fed post in 2004, said in an interview. ``I no longer find myself on the same page.''
To Canning, 62, the party once represented individual rights. Then in 2005, the Republican-led Congress intervened in an effort to keep Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman, alive against her husband's wishes. The move was symbolic of Republican positions on social issues that Canning says he found increasingly frustrating.
Canning is one of a number of prominent Republicans who have turned against the party. At least two other Bush Pioneers are contributing to Obama this time, and Bush's chief 2004 campaign strategist, Matthew Dowd, assailed the president's second-term performance in an April 1 New York Times interview.
Canning said he likes Obama's approach to reducing greenhouse gases, his opposition to the Iraq war and the fact that he's spent so little time in Washington.
`Strongest Candidate'
``You know when they say someone's experienced, if that means they've spent a long time in Washington, I don't know if that's a pretty good deal,'' he said. ``He's the strongest candidate in the entire field from both parties.''
``I've probably veered away from the conservative, Republican agenda significantly,'' said Canning, chairman of Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, one of the 20 biggest U.S. private-equity firms.
Because of his role at the Chicago Fed, Canning said he can't raise money for Obama, 45. ``He has my emotional support,'' he said.
Before co-founding Madison Dearborn in 1992, Canning spent 24 years at First Chicago Corp. and was executive vice president of First National Bank of Chicago, according to a biography on his firm's Web site. Madison Dearborn is named after two streets that intersect near the firm's headquarters.
Canning also contributed to Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. ``I gave, I think, $1,000 to Mitt Romney as a favor to a friend,'' he said. ``I don't have anything to do with him.''
Other Bush Pioneers
One Bush Pioneer who contributed to Obama, Framingham, Massachusetts-based Staples Inc. founder Thomas Stemberg, also gave to Romney, a former governor of the state. He didn't return phone calls seeking comment. Another, Chicago publicist Jayne Carr Thompson, declined to discuss her contribution to Obama except to say, ``He is a great representative of Illinois.''
To qualify as a Bush Pioneer, fundraisers had to bring in at least $100,000 in donations for the 2004 election. Pioneer Ivan Seidenberg, chief executive officer of New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., contributed this time around to New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Republican Senator John McCain.
Obama also is attracting support from Republicans who aren't prominent in business. It's hard to go to one of his events and not meet at least one Republican, either curious about the senator or already converted.
Volunteer
Until two weeks ago, Kristen Martin was a lifelong registered Republican. On April 15, she wore a blue ``Obama Volunteer'' T-shirt while working a $25-a-person fund-raising crowd in Tampa, Florida.
``One of the reasons I support him is his stance on the war in Iraq,'' said Martin, 31, a registered nurse. ``It's just kills me the way we're viewed overseas.''
David Warden, 50, spent 30 years in the Navy, retiring with the rank of master chief. At an Obama low-dollar fundraiser in Milwaukee on April 15, he blushed and said he was a lifelong Republican.
``I like his perspective, his fresh ideas,'' said Warden, who gave $25 and said he's not considering any other candidates. ``This is the first Democrat I've ever supported, let alone gave money to.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Newton-Small in Washington at
jnewtonsmall@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 25, 2007 00:09 EDT
