May 1, 1997

Party Faithful

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Party Faithful

His passions are religion, Republicans, and raising money.

by Suzanne Herel

#14 Foster Friess, 57, Jackson, Wyo. Party: R. $321,200 total contributions.

View Friess’ itemized contributions.

Republican Foster Friess’ Delaware investment fund is so successful that even the state Democratic Party chairman — himself an investment banker — belongs. But Friess breathes more than business. “The most important thing in his life is his belief in Christ as his savior,” says friend Art Brosius, who met Friess at Bible study.

And faith influences his politics. He’s vice president of the Council for National Policy, the secretive group headed by former Attorney General Edwin Meese that includes Oliver North and Pat Robertson and influenced the fundamentalist planks in the GOP’s 1996 platform.

Friess helped raise more than $1 million for unknown politico Raymond Clatworthy’s failed 1996 bid to unseat Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), persuading investment bankers nationwide to contribute $1,000 each. His $260,000 in donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, headed by Sen. Al D’Amato (R-N.Y.), drew criticism because they began pouring in days after D’Amato resurrected a bill that will save the mutual fund industry billions by lifting state regulations. Friess shrugs it off: “I have never talked to anyone about the bill.”

As for his future calling, Friess has weighed a presidental bid. But, he says, “I then would have to worry about my wife, who is very attached to making chocolate chip cookies.”

Photo Credit: Ted Wood

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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