GOP fund-raiser takes on new campaign: anti-poverty

from The St Louis Dispatch

By Adam Sichko

WASHINGTON — As usual, St. Louisan Jack Oliver will have the ear of influential Republicans this year as the 2008 presidential election approaches.

But this political season, the man known for his fundraising prowess won't be chasing campaign donations for one of the GOP hopefuls. Instead, he will be promoting a new venture inspired by the rock star Bono that pressures presidential candidates to commit to fighting global poverty.

"This is a place where my faith connects with that very small amount of political skill that I have," said Oliver, in Washington this week to help unveil an initiative called "ONE Vote '08."

"This isn't a government solution, it's not a business solution, it's not a faith solution — it's a combination," he added. "These are issues that cross party lines."

Oliver saw poverty up close during a 10-day trip to Rwanda and Tanzania that concluded this month.

"I was definitely out of my comfort zone," he said. "I was totally humbled by the hope they had in spite of what you would think would be very challenging situations."

The $30 million effort is a by-product of the ONE anti-poverty campaign started by lead singer Bono of the Irish rock band, U2. Late last year, Oliver became a co-chair of the campaign, which boasts 2.4 million members and a list of stars ranging from NFL quarterback Tom Brady to actors Brad Pitt and Ashley Judd.

After the last election, Oliver left the White House and became chairman of Bryan Cave Strategies, the lobbying and public policy strategy subsidiary of the Bryan Cave law firm. The group has offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Washington.

Oliver is better known for his campaign performances for President George W. Bush, as Bush's finance director in the 2000 campaign and as vice chairman of the 2004 campaign.

Oliver, 38, worked for John C. Danforth when he was senator and for Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, both Republicans. He was finance chairman of Jim Talent's failed Senate re-election bid last year.

Oliver is still raising money for the Republican National Committee. But his focus this year will be the voting initiative, which is initially keying on four states that hold primaries or caucuses early in the election season: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

The effort is co-chaired by two former Senate majority leaders: Republican Bill Frist of Tennessee and Democrat Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

Speaking at the ceremony in Washington this week, First asserted that fighting poverty is critical to U.S. foreign policy. "People do not go to war with people who have saved their children's lives," Frist said.

Nonetheless, Oliver isn't underestimating the work it will take to turn global poverty into a key foreign policy issue for candidates.

"The great challenge is that this isn't an issue that shows up every day, because it's far away from here and it's not on people's minds every single day," he said. "This would never be the No. 1 issue, but we want it to be an issue that people are talking about."