The donors rue, but in name only

PHILADELPHIA -- It began with Team 100, a name for a political club that was purposefully subtle and maybe even a bit coy. One had to imagine what the 100 stood for: Senators? Dollars? Nickels?

Hardly. Team 100 was made up of the $100,000 contributors, the pinnacle of political generosity back in 1988 when the elder George Bush invented the Republicans' first elite donor club for a handful of the party's most generous patrons.

But in presidential politics, donation inflation is at least 50 percent, and last week the Republican convention was overrun by a stampede of 600 Team 100 members. Their suite at the Ritz-Carlton was jammed. Those who complained were offered an option: Take out those checkbooks and give the party $250,000, the entry fee to the Republican Regents, the party's newest and most exclusive donor club, whose suite at the Four Seasons had plenty of leg room.

Last week, the Regents were given receptions with both the elder and younger George Bushes, a Saks Fifth Avenue fashion show and a party at Tiffany & Co. "There's something to do every minute," said Sam Fox, the top-giving Regent (nearly $600,000), who sounded worn out by the yacht rides and golf tournaments.

The word regent is defined as one who governs a kingdom in the minority, absence or disability of the sovereign ruler. In this era of outrage over campaign finance excesses, it seems odd that the Republicans would choose a name that allows Americans to imagine a seat next to the throne for the party's $250,000-and-up sponsors -- a list that includes Phillip Morris Cos., the National Rifle Association, AT&T and Enron Corp., the Houston energy and commodities conglomerate.

The donor group was named by Mel Sembler, the Republican's gregarious finance chairman, who made a royal fortune building shopping centers. "I just thought it had a nice ring to it," he said earlier this year. But a few fund-raisers have quietly complained that the name opens the party to criticism that it caters to a blue- blood elite.

The Democrats were far more careful, calling their top donor club Leadership 2000 (for people who give or raise $350,000; there are 18 members). Other Republican club names also sound benign: the Eagles, the Majority Council.

Yet the Regents is a runaway success. Sembler's goal was to sign up 100 members by Nov. 7, but there are already 139. Two-thirds are individuals who say they give not because they want something in return but because they believe in what the party stands for -- less government and lower taxes.

What's next for the Republicans? A $500,000 club? A $1 million club? Perhaps, a few fund-raisers acknowledged last week. But they quickly promised that the name would give nothing away.

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