Farmer with A Green Thumb

By Jacob V. Lamar

A year ago, Michael Dukakis was just another Democratic dwarf, a successful but obscure Governor who wanted to become President. But money, as the song goes, changes everything. Last June the campaign held its first major fund raiser at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel. The take: $2.1 million, three times as much as any Democrat had ever received in a single event. The campaign privately set an ambitious goal of collecting $6.5 million in 1987, then ) proceeded to rake in $10 million. It made Dukakis a front runner before any votes were cast. "Money," says Bob Farmer, the Governor's fund-raising guru, "is the first primary."

Farmer, 49, an effervescent backslapper who never misses an opportunity to promote himself or his candidate, is the master of modern political fund raising: a person who can franchise a nationwide pyramid of captains and lieutenants to seek out $1,000 donations, the maximum permitted by law. So far he has raised nearly $17 million from 75,000 donors, plus $8.5 million in federal matching funds. With money pouring in at a rate of $60,000 a day, Farmer will soon hit the $27.7 million legal ceiling for primary spending. Besides buying Dukakis early credibility, it has given him a critical cushion, allowing him to survive losses in such states as Iowa, Illinois and Michigan and still wage a national campaign. "Money has become the winnowing factor in this race," says Farmer. "It's not that other candidates lose their desire; it's that their pocketbooks run dry."

Farmer's genius lies in his ability to meld high-tech proficiency with old- fashioned schmoozing. He makes each member of his national network feel he is a part of some magnificent mission. If someone raises $5,000, Farmer names him to a local finance committee; $10,000 brings elevation to the national committee. "People like to have some piece of a presidential campaign," he explains. "My job is to bond them to the candidate."

One reason Dukakis has been able to raise far more than any other Democrat is that he can tap into a national network of proud Greek Americans. They account for about 20% of his war chest. On his first visit to Queens, N.Y., last year, he was met by Greeks waving $20 bills. In addition, more than 30% of Dukakis' donations come from Massachusetts. Much of the rest is given by affluent, civic-minded professionals, urban and suburban, who are willing to write checks and line up friends to do the same. And no one is better at sowing and reaping that fertile ground than Farmer.

"Fund raisers tend to be crass and hard sell," says Joseph Zengerle, a Washington lawyer and Dukakis money-maker. "But Bob brings none of that baggage with him." Farmer's approach is low key, almost to the point of deference. On the phone with a fund raiser from Florida, Farmer is the consummate flatterer. "You were with us when it was unfashionable, my friend," he says. He makes his pitch casually: "Can you put together another $10,000?" Farmer smiles and nods approvingly, winding up the call with his trademark breezy farewell: "You're a great American."

A publisher of legal and business manuals, Farmer was a Republican for most of his adult life. He first became interested in politics in 1979, when he was attracted to gadfly Candidate John Anderson. Farmer sent Anderson a check for $1,000 and soon became his chief fund raiser in Massachusetts. In 1982 he approached Dukakis and offered to run the politician's finances in his re- election campaign. Farmer switched to the Democratic Party and sold his business for several million dollars. He has become a confidant of Dukakis; he made two trips to the Far East with his wife Kitty and sat up late with the Governor in his bedroom on the night Dukakis had to let John Sasso go as campaign manager.

Farmer, who works full time for Dukakis, believes that fund-raising letters are next to useless. Real donations come through phone conversations or, even better, personal visits. Last spring he spent two months meeting with hundreds of potential givers and collectors. He was on the road 39 out of 42 days recently, and is about to embark on a 25-city visit to his local operatives. If Dukakis wins the nomination, Farmer will turn his energies to raising money for the Democratic Party. And should his candidate win, would there be a job for Farmer? As Dukakis once joked, perhaps the best way to solve the deficit would be to make Farmer responsible for the nation's revenues.

With reporting by Robert Ajemian/Boston and Michael Riley with Dukakis