ElNono
02-07-2014, 04:12 AM
President Obama’s appointee to a plum South American ambassadorship is at the center of a dispute over whether he bought the post fair and square — a battle that is dividing powerful Los Angeles financial supporters and which lifts a curtain on the forces of money and influence that help drive presidential politics.
Noah Mamet, a 44-year-old political consultant and longtime fundraiser, was appointed as U.S. ambassador to Argentina at the end of July. When word got around as early as April that Mamet would receive the nomination, the news was met with surprise, and in some cases anger, by his peers in the donor class.
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Ambassadorships are typically awarded to the president’s largest donors. Of the 72 ambassadors Obama has named during his second term, more than half are classified as political appointees, rather than career foreign service officers.
Those posts also go to people who have given less money themselves but have raised — or “bundled” — enormous sums. Rufus Gifford, Obama’s former national finance director, is now in his fourth month as ambassador to Denmark, and the former Obama for America finance chair, Matthew Barzun, is now the ambassador to the United Kingdom. But few of Obama’s ambassador selections have precipitated as much talk this year as the decision to send Mamet to Buenos Aires.
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One factor in Mamet’s favor may be his friendship with Messina, Obama’s longtime adviser. When the Hollywood Reporter first wrote about the news of Mamet’s appointment in May, the magazine reported that Mamet had been “championed” by Messina for the role. The two were described as “incredibly close” by one fundraiser, who recalled Mamet driving Messina around Los Angeles on a visit during the campaign.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/ambassador-appointment-draws-ire-inside-democratic-donor-cla
Noah Mamet, a 44-year-old political consultant and longtime fundraiser, was appointed as U.S. ambassador to Argentina at the end of July. When word got around as early as April that Mamet would receive the nomination, the news was met with surprise, and in some cases anger, by his peers in the donor class.
...
Ambassadorships are typically awarded to the president’s largest donors. Of the 72 ambassadors Obama has named during his second term, more than half are classified as political appointees, rather than career foreign service officers.
Those posts also go to people who have given less money themselves but have raised — or “bundled” — enormous sums. Rufus Gifford, Obama’s former national finance director, is now in his fourth month as ambassador to Denmark, and the former Obama for America finance chair, Matthew Barzun, is now the ambassador to the United Kingdom. But few of Obama’s ambassador selections have precipitated as much talk this year as the decision to send Mamet to Buenos Aires.
...
One factor in Mamet’s favor may be his friendship with Messina, Obama’s longtime adviser. When the Hollywood Reporter first wrote about the news of Mamet’s appointment in May, the magazine reported that Mamet had been “championed” by Messina for the role. The two were described as “incredibly close” by one fundraiser, who recalled Mamet driving Messina around Los Angeles on a visit during the campaign.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/ambassador-appointment-draws-ire-inside-democratic-donor-cla