George Soros and the election of a President

Part I Part II John Podesta took the shuttle to New York City from his home in Washington in December, 2001. He was met by investment banker Steven Rattner for their two hour drive up-state to Katonah, in Westchester County.

---

“It’s good to see you again, John…Last time was at that State-dinner, wasn’t it?” Rattner smiled. “What’s this all about?” he asked quizzically. “I don’t know, but when Mr. Soros calls, I come,” Podesta laughed. They drove up the Hudson River Parkway to the Saw Mill Parkway and then took the Bedford Hills-Katonah exit. They drove east to tree-lined Cantitoe Street and entered a driveway discretely marked with a sign, “187.” George Soros’ son Jonathan answered the vaulted front door at a large mansion and ushered the two men into his father’s voluminous library. “Thanks for coming,” Soros greeted the two men somberly. “I hoped you would get to know each other during the drive…Today is important,” he said and pointed them to a leather sofa opposite his chair. “A drink? A Soda?” “This country…and the world, is in real trouble,” Soros began in his accented English. “Have you seen the polls?” he almost shouted. “That cowboy has almost a 90 percent approval! ‘9/11 did it! There’s no telling what he’ll do now. But, I know what we have to do!” He paused while the two men looked blankly at him. “We have an election in a year. He’ll get even more power! He has to be stopped!” Soros said. “I’m not sure what I can do,” Rattner responded blandly. “I’ll get to that Steven,” Soros answered exasperatedly and went on. “I’ve been supporting a number of progressive candidates and the Democrats in Congress…Eight figures worth,” he added. “Peter (1), some other friends and I, have been supporting America Coming Together, MoveOn.org, AirAmerica, and other progressive groups. But, it’s not enough; not with Bush at 90%.” He waited a moment for his import to sink in and continued. “John, for now, I want you to coordinate my friend’s and my support, so we get maximum effectiveness.” “But, to have a real impact on 2004, we have to have a plan, and the mechanisms to execute that plan.” He paused again for tacit agreement, which he felt that he received. “Next year, we need to establish a think tank to match that The Heritage Foundation and all those other right-wingers,” he said derisively. “That think tank can fund grass-roots groups, like MoveOn, and ACORN, and other groups that agree with us. Then we need to orchestrate a constant barrage of attacks on everything that cowboy does.---He spits on the sidewalk; there’s a column pointing it out, and a network TV commentary about how crude he is---Every mistake he makes has to be pointed out in the media,” he continued. “His approval has to be driven down! He has to be exposed as the dangerous fool that he is!” “That’s a tall order, Mr. Soros,” Podesta said. “I agree with the concept, but how does it get done?” Soros laughed. “John, you’re going to put the think tank together---Call it, maybe, ‘The Center For American Progress’---That has a good ring to it…Hire the best talent you can find…There ought to be plenty of former Clinton people available…You’ll have all the money you need,” he said, anticipating Podesta’s next question. “Get your people busy connecting with MoveOn, DailyKos, ACORN, and all the other progressive groups. I’ll give you some specific names; remember, I’ve already been contributing to them…Assign a key man to coordinate with Labor; deal directly with John Sweeney, Hoffa, Tronka, McEntee and Andy Stern…You know all of them, John,” he said, stopping for a breath. “Hire a woman to plug in to the pro-abortion people, and the other feminist groups…Spread some more money around,” he said, stopping for a breath. “Get someone to coordinate with the elected people, state and national. Get a key person in Hollywood to deal with the agents and producers; they control the actors. Get an environmentalist, with credentials, to coordinate with the environmentalists and ‘Greens’.” “Whew! You really are serious, aren’t you,” Podesta responded with sincere admiration. “All that is going to cost a fortune.” “I’m totally serious, John. I’d spent every cent I have if I could be guaranteed I’d defeat Bush (2), Soros answered. “Just get me the action plan and a budget.” Then he turned to Rattner. “Steven, you’re a key part of this,” he said. “How?” Rattner answered. “I have a business to run…and investors, of which, you are one,” he laughed. “You’re a key person to this, Steven,” Soros repeated. Arthur Sulzberger is your best friend. He was in your wedding. You’re his most trusted advisor,” he continued. “I don’t have to tell you that The Times is the most influencial paper in the world. Their news-wire has three or four thousand papers around the country that print their stories…More around the world. Every day, The Times front page provides the leads for all the network news shows and lets the important people around the United States know how they should think about important matters, and what they’ll be talking about at their clubs.” “Perhaps I’m dense, Mr, Soros,” Rattner responded. “Arthur prides himself on his paper’s independence. He would never make The Times a part of anyone else’s project, no matter how noble.” “Oh, no!” Soros protested. “I have great respect for Arthur…And his family…And The Times…I read it first thing every morning,” he said. “I knows he agrees with me that Bush is a danger to the world. All I want is that you tell him, in the greatest confidence, that a serious effort is being mounted to counter that danger. Tell him that you will keep him informed. You won’t have to spell it out for him, Steven; he’s very smart. Over time, you can help him focus The Times in the most constructive way…And tell him that The Times will gain even more stature by being supportive of such an important effort for the world. Oh, and you should establish contact with Donald Graham (3) at The Post. They’re important too. “And, do I get the Henry Kissinger award for deplomacy, or a Nobel Peace prize, for my efforts?” Rattner laughed. “Seriously, Mr. Soros, Arthur is a bit prickly,” he added. “And he takes his responsibility, and himself, very seriously.” “I know. I know,” Soros answered soothingly. “You’ll handle it very delicately…and successfully. I have every conficence in you.” The three men sat for a few moments silently before Podesta spoke. “My juices are flowing, Mr. Soros,” he said. “In a few days, I’ll have a plan and a budget drafted for your approval.After that, we should touch base on the phone, briefly, every few days…You know, I’ve been on the receiving end of an effort to take down a president…I have a pretty good sense of where the pressure points are,” he chuckled. “That’s why you’re here, John,” he said. “And your tremendous orginazational ability,” he added. “When this job is done, we can be very proud, even though the history books will never record it.” “And it’ll never be written about in America’s ‘newspaper of record’ either,” Rattner agreed. “My wife’s on the Democratic Party Finance committee, and I won’t even share all this with her.” … “Plan to go to some state dinners in 2005,” Soros told his son after the two men had left. … On the way back to New York City, Podesta and Rattner chatted about Westchester County’s beautiful winter scenery, and their family’s plans for the Christmas holidays. Finally, Rattner said, “This really is rather amazing, isn’t it?…The systematic taking down of a sitting president.” “Well, if anybody can do it, it will be Mr. Soros,” Podesta responded. “A Jewish refugee who arrived here in 1956 with $5,000 in his pocket and forty years later, he broke The Bank of England. Now he lays out another ambitious goal: ending George Bush’s presidency. He is amazing.” “In the theater, there’s a thing called, ‘a second act problem’, John,” Rattner mused. “I’ll bet Mr. Soros has an plan for that too: electing an acceptable president. And, you’ll certainly have the ‘mechanisms’, as he understatedly put it, to accomplish that…It really is remarkable what you can accomplish if you have 10 BILLION dollars…That’s ten thousand MILLION dollars…Your budget won’t even put a dent in it, John,” he laughed. “You’ve just added several zeros to my budget,” Podesta laughed with him. (1) Insurance executive, Peter Lewis, a close friend and ally of Soros (2) A direct quote from George Soros (3) Publisher of The Washington Post; son of Katherine Graham John C. Broome can be reached at: jcbroome@comcast.net

---