Dollars for the Duke

Michael Dukakis's Presidential campaign raised $27.6 million by last June, reaching the federal limit and outdoing every other Democratic Presidential campaign in history. Much of the credit goes to campaign treasurer Robert Farmer '60, whom a New York Times headline called "The Mastermind of the Dukakis Success." Most successful fund-raisers do not capture the spotlight but because of his success Bob Farmer has been profiled by a number of news organizations including The Times, the Boston Globe, Time, and Cable Network News.

Farmer's fund-raising techniques are not unusual, but almost always involve his own personal touch. He believes fund-raising letters are useless, and instead makes personal phone calls and maintains a hectic travel schedule. With a $1,000 federal limit on individual contributions, and Dukakis's refusal to take money from political action committees, Farmer has instead put together a powerful network of fund-raisers. Dartmouth, he says, deserves some of the credit. Farmer describes a visit he received from a classmate as their 15th Reunion approached. He expected to be asked for $500, but was asked for $5,000. "When I picked myself up off the floor," says Farmer, "I wrote the check. The only reason I did it was because he came to my office. He taught me the secret."

When the Dukakis campaign hit the "fund-raising cap" more than a month before the Massachusetts governor officially became the Democratic Party nominee, Farmer didn't slow down. Instead he assumed control of the fundraising operations of the Democratic National Committee. "I haven't stopped to smell the roses yet," says Farmer. "We have too much work to do." The Republicans are always ahead financially, he points out. "I want to create a level playing field. I want the Democrats to be competitive with the Republicans." His goal for the general election campaign is a whopping $50 million.

Farmer grew up in Cleveland and at Dartmouth was a government major, served as president of his sophomore class, and was treasurer of Phi Tau fraternity. He received the Roger C. Wilde 1921 Reunion Award for his work as chairman of 20th Reunion giving in 1979, setting a record for classes 20 years out with $238,162.

After Dartmouth, Farmer attended Harvard Law School, then started his own business, publishing legal and technical manuals. He later enrolled at Harvard Business School but quit after one semester to devote moretime to his business. By 1980 Farmer found himself a millionaire; he also found a new challenge in the Presidential campaign of Republican-turned-Independent John Anderson. He followed Anderson's political switch, and in 1982 jumped even further, going to work as finance chair for Dukakis's 1982 gubernatorial campaign.

Since those first days with Anderson, Farmer has developed a reputation as a brilliant fund-raiser, serving as John Glenn's finance chair in 1984,' treasurer for the Democratic Governors Association, and finance chair for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Farmer has no doubt made his mark even deeper with this Presidential campaign.

Candidate Dukakis once joked that perhaps the best way to solve the deficit would be to make Farmer responsible for the nation's revenues. Farmer says he's certainly not looking for a new job. "When I got into this," he says, "Michael Dukakis was a 100-to-1 shot." But when Inauguration Day rolls around in January, Bob Farmer may just find himself with a new job in a new administration.

Candidate Dukakis and Fund-Raiser Farmer.