< Previous page

Culbertson said the key to fundraising is putting together networks of people committed to seeing a Republican in the White House. He doesn't look for a big corporate CEO but for someone who has the time, contacts and willingness to relentlessly solicit donations.

Culbertson applies the same drive he used in business -- his salesman's personality, his persistence and long hours necessary to raise campaign war chests.

He can also be sharp-elbowed and salty, muscling out rivals or political operatives he doesn't like.

Much of the Bush money in 2004 was raised at big statewide events -- $2.4 million at the home of Raleigh businessman Cliff Benson Jr. and $1.6 million at the Charlotte home of C.D. Spangler, the former president of the University of North Carolina.

Often the price of the event was tiered -- $1,000 to get you in the door, $15,000 to eat with the president and $25,000 to sit at the head table with the president. (People can give large contributions by donating not just to the candidate but to various party committees.)

"I peppered people with e-mails day after day after day," Culbertson said. "You've to work your rear end off, and it's got to be peer-to-peer."

People have different motivations for raising money for the president, including the long American political tradition of appointing big donors to ambassadorships.

"Some will do it with nothing in mind other than getting their candidate elected," Culbertson said. "Others will say, if they do get elected it would be nice if I got to do such and such. You want to factor that in. There's nothing wrong with that."

"He is very persistent," said former state Rep. Ed McMahan of Charlotte, a key Bush fundraiser. "He is a hard worker. It's really about being able to put the time and effort into it. I think he has a lot of contacts. He built the base himself. He developed the list as he went along. People responded to him because he will give recognition to other people."

A false start

Culbertson doesn't always back a winner. He signed on last year as the state chairman for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was surprised when his GOP presidential effort flopped.

The den of his Tudor-style home in Winston-Salem is filled with political mementos. Pictures -- usually with personal inscription -- of Culbertson with Karl Rove, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, former governors Jim Martin and Jim Holshouser, Sen. Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich, Bill Buckley, Dick Cheney and, of course, Bush.

He is, as one might expect, still gung-ho on Bush.

"He is trying to do the right thing," Culbertson said. "He is so much more articulate in private than sometimes he is in public. I've heard him in small groups, and he can be spellbinding. Whether he is talking about Putin or China or Iraq, he is thoroughly knowledgeable about these things."

As for the war in Iraq, Culbertson said he thinks things are stabilizing there.

"In Iraq, there is almost a total turnaround," Culbertson said.

The Dutch have been supportive of the war in terrorism, with 26 soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Culbertson has been preparing for what he expects to be an eight-month stint as ambassador in the Netherlands, where he will head a staff of 300 people. He spent a month training at the State Department and will shortly spend another week in Washington. For months he has been receiving a six-page daily briefing paper from the U.S. Embassy in the Netherlands.

The Dutch are major U.S. trading partners, and Culbertson said his background in business and as a member of the state Economic Development Board and state Banking Commission will provide him with some insights.

As a young man, Culbertson once attended a reception at the ambassador's residence in The Hague. But he said he never believed that decades later, he would be living there.

< Previous page

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.