The Hotline has the list of John McCain’s leaders for his New York, Connecticut and New Jersey finance teams.:

Ken Abramowitz	Russ Gerson	Andrew Malik
Randy Altschuler	Howard Gittis	Georgette Mosbacher
Michael Ashner	Michael Glassner	John Myers
Kendrick Ashton	Steve Goldberg	Joseph J. Plumeri
Mark Broxmeyer	Sid Goodfriend	Scott Rechler
Bob Caruso	Dan Hebert	Ted Roosevelt, IV
Ben Chouake	Gary Holloway	Richard Rosenbaum
Harry Clark	Woody Johnson	Joe Schmuckler
Mayree Clark	Munr Kazmir	Barbara Sobel
Peter Cohen	Dean Kehler	Evan Stewart
Edward Cox	David Knott	Linda Tavlarios
Ray Dalio	Richard Kogan	Wayne Tuan
Patrick Durkin	Henry Kravis	Thomas E. Tuft
Anne Estabrook	Jerry Leamon	Barry West
Laurance Gay	Alain Lebec	Gordon Whiting
Peter Georgiopoulos	Leah Lebec	Laurence Zuriff
Andy Gershon	John Lehman

As the Hotline notes, the likely motivation behind releasing this list is to scare away Giuliani’s donor base. Will it work? We’ll know in a few months.

The first in a series profiling the McCain 2008 Finance Committee, today’s money man is Donald Bren, chairman of the board of directors of The Irvine Company.

• As you would expect, the man is extremely wealthy. According to Forbes Magazine, Bren is the 104th richest person in the world with a net worth of 5.7 billion dollars.
• A Marine Corps veteran, Bren started building houses and worked his way up to a real estate empire.
• Over the last three election cycles (2002, 2004, 2006) Bren has donated $327,450 to Federal candidates and committees. Mostly republican causes, with a little more than $300,000 of that going to the RNC.
• Bren is known as a California Money Man, his rolodex is obviously wide ranging and he can command hundred of thousands of dollars in contributions quite easily.

Anyone else know anything about Donald Bren that I should know about?

Update: The Orange County Business Journal reports that Donald Bren cast his lot with McCain after being approached by both Giuliani and Romney.

In McCain’s latest email fundraising appeal, Campaign Manager Terry (racist crook) Nelson offers a John McCain lapel pin for only a $100 contribution. Gee whiz that’s swell!

John McCain remains steadfast in his commitment to a brand of leadership that promotes principle over politics, and now he needs a commitment from you. With your contribution this year of just $100 or more to support John McCain’s Presidential Exploratory Committee, you will be rushed an official John McCain Presidential Exploratory Committee lapel pin to identify yourself as a key McCain supporter.

The challenges facing our nation today demand solutions, and solutions require leadership. Show your friends, family and neighbors that John McCain is the leader we need in 2008.

Sure is pretty. Amazing what a few dollars can buy these days…

To the tune of $50 million. The Phoenix Business Journal reports:

Arizona Sen. John McCain has launched a $50 million national fundraising and business outreach effort for his 2008 presidential bid and recently met with a group of two dozen leading Arizona chief executives and business chiefs.

McCain wants to raise $50 million nationally and $2.5 million in Arizona over the next couple of months, with a focus on gaining financial and political support from the business community.

The Phoenix-area meeting with McCain featured a select and very powerful group of Arizona business leaders and CEOs. Top executives from the airline industry, real estate, banking and professional sports sectors were at the invitation-only meeting with McCain. There were no formal invitations or publicity of the event, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

I wonder what sort of promises were made to the business community in exchange for the $50 million John McCain is looking to raise. Does this signal an end to the “straight talk express” and the start of the “back room largess”?