WASHINGTON - February 10 - The Bush-Cheney re-election campaign’s unprecedented fundraising haul of $142 million and counting has relied on an elite group of 416 bundlers, including 26 newly disclosed by the campaign, according to WhiteHouseForSale.org.

WhiteHouseForSale.org, a Web site created by Public Citizen in conjunction with Texans for Public Justice to track contributors to Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign, has updated its searchable database with the names of the new Rangers and Pioneers, along their home states, employers and occupations. The Bush campaign now has 165 Rangers, those fundraisers who bundle at least $200,000 in individual contributions, and 251 Pioneers, who each have brought in at least $100,000.

Notables newly named as Bush Pioneers include Nestle USA Chairman Joseph Weller, top Coca-Cola lobbyist Barclay Resler and longtime Republican Party rainmaker Julie Finley. The number of Wall Street Pioneers continues to grow, with Bear Stearns managing director Douglas Korn and Thomas Saunders, a former Morgan Stanley executive who now heads a private equity fund. Also becoming Pioneers were two ex-ambassadors from the first Bush administration, Bruce Gelb (Belgium) and Charles Cobb (Iceland) – whose wife is now ambassador to Jamaica. Fourteen Pioneers from 2004 achieved Ranger status in January, as did James Haslam III, the CEO of Pilot Corp. and a 2000 Pioneer. The Bush campaign also deleted the names of one Ranger and one Pioneer from its Web site, but offered no explanation.

New Mexico placed its first Pioneer on the 2004 list, becoming the 46th state with at least one Ranger or Pioneer. Florida added 10 new Pioneers in January – more than any other state – and trails only Texas among states with the most big-money Bush bundlers. President Bush already has headlined seven fundraisers in the Sunshine State during his re-election campaign. An updated chart showing the state-by-state breakdown of Bush’s big backers and a comprehensive list of Bush campaign events is available at WhiteHouseForSale.org.

"The official campaign season may have just started for the president," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "But one look at this list of bundlers shows that the selling of the White House never stops."

WhiteHouseForSale.org Web Site Features Searchable Database with Information About 416 Rangers and Pioneers Identified by Bush-Cheney Campaign

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