When fundraising rentals go bad
By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 7/1/11 3:48 PM EDT
Matt Viser reports:
The Mitt Romney campaign thought they had the perfect place staked out for their fundraiser in London next week: an elegant home that once belonged to famed American portrait artist John Singer Sargent.
The home now belongs to wealthy financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and his wife, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a well-connected American lawyer and entrepreneur.
But one major problem got in the way: the Lady joined up with one of Romney’s rivals, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. She hosted a dinner for him last week at another one of her homes, in New York, and says they raised $1.2 million.
“He’s the real deal,” Forester said of Huntsman in an interview. “He is a genuine fiscal conservative. He’s not doctrinaire. He sticks to what he believes in. He’s just a pragmatic, non-ideological, let’s-roll-up-our-sleeves-and-get-it-done kind of American. I really think he’s fabulous.”
She said she agreed to allow the campaign to use her home several months ago, mostly as a personal favor to Woody Johnson, who is the owner of the New York Jets and one of Romney’s major fundraisers.
But Forester said she made clear that, while they could use her home, she would not make the maximum $2,500 contribution and she would not be supporting Romney.
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