Obama '08 fundraiser calls reelection staff 'incompetent fools

With big help from a team of talented fundraisers, President Obama made it rain campaign dollars heading into the 2008 election. But 2012 is a whole new ballgame. Several of the fundraisers that raked in the big bucks for Obama in '08 won't be back, according to Politico. The reasons for the change are many, ranging from newly motivated gay supporters taking a larger role in the reelection campaign, to more Washington establishment types (think Clintonian) elbowing their way in. But one key New York-based money raiser has his own reasons:

“I will obviously vote, but I don’t think we’re going to be actively involved in raising money,” said Willard Taylor, a New York lawyer who, along with his wife Virginia Davies, hosted one of the first New York City Obama events in 2007, bucking the city’s nearly unified backing for Clinton.

“I think he’s done a terrible job with Organizing for America and for his base, and with the recognition of the people who worked for him,” Taylor said. “I frankly think the staff, the reelection staff, are incompetent fools.”

Ouch! Obama isn't nearly in full campaign mode (a state of mind he's rumored to love), so there's no telling yet how "incompetent" or not his reelection staff is, but we do know that so far, he has raised a hefty $35 million. His 2008 campaign hauled in roughly $750 million.

h/t Above the Law