Time to Pass the Plate

By Karen Tumulty/Washington

If Al Gore needs any more evidence that he's no longer Prince Albert of the Democrats, he'll get it this weekend. The 2004 presidential shopping season is under way--with the rich Democrats who write big campaign checks browsing for a candidate to support--and Gore may be a too familiar face in a crowded field. In 2000 he had the party's nomination and its fat-cat donors all to himself--but blew the race. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday the big-money players will be wooed at two competing events: Gore's "donor retreat" at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., and North Carolina Senator John Edwards' gathering of givers on St. Simmons Island, Georgia. And Edwards is holding his retreat at the home of R.J. Reynolds heir Smith Bagley, a party powerhouse who used to support Gore (Bagley's wife Elizabeth was the U.S. ambassador to Portugal during the Clinton years). Many Democratic donors say they are yearning for an alternative to Gore. "Been there, done that," says a big Hollywood fund raiser who is passing on Gore's Memphis event. "Everyone's looking for a fresh face."

But no one can say whose face that will be. Around Labor Day, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry will try to charm the money men (they are overwhelmingly male) at the Nantucket, Mass., estate of his wife, ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz. And for donors who don't like to venture too far from K Street, Gore's former running mate, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, held a get-together a few weeks ago at a downtown D.C. hotel.

Each of these men dreams of being the party's nominee. And each knows that the election's first contest is the money primary. Back when George W. Bush was just a first-term Texas Governor with a famous last name, his lineup of $100,000 fund raisers made him the G.O.P. front runner--a year before anyone in Iowa had a chance to caucus. In 2004 money could matter more than ever because the primaries will be concentrated at the beginning of the election calendar, forcing candidates to campaign nationwide from the start. And the nominee will need a bigger donor base, because the new campaign-finance law forbids parties from accepting unregulated "soft money" contributions. So the half a dozen or so Democrats considering a run for the White House have decided it's none too soon to begin wooing the money men.

House minority leader Dick Gephardt, in his quest to win back Democratic control this fall, has done 53 fund raisers in 41 cities this year, raising about $20 million for his party and making wealthy friends from coast to coast. (Senate majority leader Tom Daschle is keeping up a similar pace.) Last December, Gephardt left Washington during a busy congressional session to fly to Los Angeles and present the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's Liberty and Justice Award to money magnet Barbra Streisand and then hopped a red-eye back to breakfast with President Bush.

With so many hungry men looking to take his place, Gore finds himself the one with the most to prove in the money race. His 2000 campaign left donors furious over what they saw as an inept operation; more recently, they have been bewildered by his near disappearance from the political scene. No wonder others have come courting. "There are a number of important national Democratic leaders who I have found it important to support, including Al Gore," says Alan Solomont, the Democratic Party's former national finance chairman. All the players will be looking at second-quarter fund-raising reports, due out July 15, for confirmation of rumors that Gore's operation is struggling, in part because Gore has been preoccupied with writing a book. That's one reason he will be doing a round of quiet lunches and dinners with donors in New York City. His daughter Karenna Gore Schiff is also organizing a $50-a-head event Thursday night at the slightly-past-its-peak night spot Lot 61.

Gore's Memphis retreat is expected to draw a decent crowd. While he will feature congressional Democrats as speakers, he did not invite Lieberman, who has said he will not run if Gore does (but is busily building his donor network in case Gore doesn't). Edwards' retreat will include a good-size contingent of trial lawyers--he used to be one himself--who also account for 86% of the money his pac has raised so far.

Several influential donors told TIME they believe that the anger at Gore has subsided and that many will re-up if he gets serious about running. But those who are hoping for a clear sign of his intentions this weekend will probably be disappointed, if one is to judge by the agenda. The highlight? Al and Tipper are slated to lead a discussion titled "What Do We Do?"