FUNDRAISER CASHES IN -- OBAMA GETS ZERO / Real presidential campaign warns unauthorized effort in state to cease

OBAMA25_SPCL.jpg Emmett Cash, III of "Californians For Obama" opens his organization's new office in San Bernardino on July 17, 2007. Photo by Frank Perez/Special to the Chronicle. (Photog Phoner: 909-938-0872) 909-938-0872 less OBAMA25_SPCL.jpg Emmett Cash, III of "Californians For Obama" opens his organization's new office in San Bernardino on July 17, 2007. Photo by Frank Perez/Special to the Chronicle. (Photog Phoner: ... more Photo: Frank Perez/Special To The Chron Photo: Frank Perez/Special To The Chron Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close FUNDRAISER CASHES IN -- OBAMA GETS ZERO / Real presidential campaign warns unauthorized effort in state to cease 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

The state chairman of the "Californians for Obama" campaign has raised thousands of dollars in donations through promotions ranging from celebrity-studded Mexican cruises to CD sales to campaign office "grand openings" in support of the popular Illinois Democratic senator and presidential candidate.

But the official presidential campaign of Barack Obama said Tuesday it was unaware of the activities of the entirely unauthorized Los Angeles-based fundraising efforts of Emmett Cash III -- a self-proclaimed former movie mogul who was a registered Republican until last month.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, after being informed by The Chronicle of Cash's fundraising activities, said the senator's camp Tuesday issued a stern warning "asking him to close operations."

Cash, a week after he earned media coverage and addressed supporters at a "Californians for Obama" campaign office opening in San Bernardino, insists he has done nothing illegal.

But critics say his independent efforts to parlay Obama's presidential drive into a fundraising bonanza illustrates an increasingly disturbing trend in political campaigns of the Internet age -- the proliferation of entrepreneurs who use technology to scoop up voter donations without official campaign sanction.

Cash's "Californians for Obama" boasted an official-looking Web site (www.californiansforobama.com) that was graced by a smiling photo of the candidate. The site pitched a star-studded Obama "Women of Power" cruise for 2,000 to Mexico that attracted donors like a 65-year-old woman from Compton (Los Angeles County), who said she has paid the $2,423 cruise fee believing the funds would help support her candidate.

But a Chronicle examination of the latest Federal Election Commission records on file for the organization for the reporting period ending June 30 shows that while Cash has raised nearly $10,000 this year, not one dollar has gone to the Obama campaign -- or any other political candidate.

Indeed, nearly two thirds of the group's 2007 funding has already been paid out either to Cash himself -- for listed expenses such as salary and travel and snacks -- or to his organization's accounting firm, Burbank-based Durkee & Associates. Other expenses include U.S. postage and signs, the records show.

Cash, reached Tuesday by phone in his Southern California offices, said he has never claimed his efforts are official or beneficial to the Illinois senator's campaign. The businessman -- who has described himself in past newspaper reports as the former head of Los Angeles-based New World Motion Pictures Studios and associated with films like "Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde" -- notes that his Web sites and literature specify that his group is "an independent committee."

"We don't speak for the campaign," he said.

Cash's group has raised cash with recent advertising pitches for events such as the Sept. 21 "Women of Power" Carnival cruise to Mexico -- which boasts star attendees like singer Eartha Kitt, poet Maya Angelou and Rep. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles.

The legendary Kitt "will be interested to know that," Andrew Freidman, her longtime publicist, said wryly of the chanteuse's advertised cruise appearance. "She'll be performing at the Carlyle in New York during those dates."

Angelou, the celebrated author, might also be surprised by the invite: She's officially endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president. And staffers in Watson's Washington office insisted that they know nothing of the trip -- and it isn't on the congresswoman's schedule.

Cash said his advertisements have noted that the celebrities are "due to availability."

But Ercell Hoffman, 65, of Compton said Tuesday she had put her hard-earned cash into a rare political donation to "Californians for Obama" -- $2,423.76 to go on the Obama Women of Power cruise with the double goal of rubbing elbows with admired women and helping her favorite presidential candidate.

Hoffman said she was heartbroken when The Chronicle informed her that her donation for passage on the three-day trip from Long Beach to Ensenada -- for which Carnival Cruise lines charges $349 -- isn't benefiting Obama's campaign, something she insisted cruise organizers never told her.

"You're kidding me," said Hoffman, a licensed marriage and family counselor. "It seems to me that's fraudulent. That's incredible. It's called Californians for Obama. ... I thought they were representatives of Obama."

In a 2008 presidential race that is both competitive and consumed with campaign fundraising, the existence of such unauthorized or independent fundraising organizations is not only a cautionary tale to campaigns but to donors as well, political veterans say.

The Federal Election Commission says that such independent fundraising groups have existed for decades and are entirely legal -- as long as they cannot be directly connected to campaigns or fraudulently suggest such a connection to gather donations.

But Obama spokesman Burton said the campaign believes that the efforts should cease because it appears to be "an unauthorized use of the senator's name to raise money. ... We want to make sure people are protected."

Democratic campaign strategist Garry South said such trouble underscores how, for a candidate like Obama -- who has been a formidable fundraiser on the Internet -- "there are a lot of advantages to the Internet and its use in politics, but there also is a nasty underbelly. This is an example."

"People can raise money any way they want, and there is not a hell of a lot that a campaign can do about it unless there's outright fraud," he said. "One of the reasons people are poaching on Obama is that he's a very hot candidate on the Internet."

But Democratic strategist Dan Newman, also unaffiliated with any presidential campaign, says the freewheeling efforts of Cash's group suggest concerns about Obama's official campaign organization in the nation's most populous state -- a fundraising mother lode. With an unauthorized group doing business since 2006, he said, the "strongly worded threats from attorneys" should have come sooner.

"Campaigns have to make it easy and accessible for supporters to get involved in their campaign officially, and they have to react strongly and clearly when something like this comes up," Newman said.

Ironically, Cash, the unofficial group's director, has hardly been shy about seeking publicity.

His colorful ventures -- reported in a variety of newspapers over the decades -- have included boasts in 2002 of establishing a new, Hollywood-style movie mecca in Jackson, Miss., and an official announcement in 2000 that his movie firm had signed a historic 12-film deal with the Chinese government.

Identified alternately as a boxing promoter, an Olympics booster and the head of a minority contractor's association, Cash also was identified as director of a 1979 "Miss Black America" contest deserted by judges and lambasted by contestants who complained of living conditions that included cockroaches and meals of salami sandwiches.

On the political front, Los Angeles County voter registration records show that until just last month, Cash was a registered Republican. He has been previously identified as national chair of "Citizens for Powell," to draft former Secretary of State Colin Powell for president, and as the "national coordinator" for Perot Voters, a group supporting the presidential campaign of Ross Perot.

Last week, Cash got coverage in the San Bernardino County Sun and was identified as "Obama's state campaign chairman" as he announced the opening of "Californians for Obama" campaign offices there, though the Obama campaign has no official operation in the city.

Earlier this year, papers in Bakersfield also called Cash "a representative of Barack Obama" and reported on his speech at the local Doubletree Hotel, where he boasted there would soon be "Teachers for Obama," "Students for Obama," "Housewives for Obama" and many other groups to help raise $40 million for the candidate.

Cash allowed Tuesday that while none of his organization's money has gone directly to Obama's official effort, he has contributed to the senator's run, urging contributors to write checks, sending out mail advertisements and helping to push for voter registration.

He said he has only aimed "to raise money to cover the expenses of what (we're) doing ... it does take a little bit to run up and down the state and to carry people with you."

Cash, saying he wanted to ensure that Obama supporters were satisfied with their affiliation, also promised to refund Compton resident Hoffman's cruise donation immediately.

"We've done everything in accord with the law, and we want to do things to make it better," Cash said, adding his organization has only one goal: "We want a part of this great man, too."

Burton says the Obama campaign is well aware of independent committees and groups that aim to help candidates in the 2008 presidential race. "There are a lot of folks who want to show their support in a lot of different ways," he said. "But we encourage people, if they want to help out, to do it directly through the campaign."

They're not on board

The Web site for "Californians for Obama," an independent fundraising organization founded last year, had all the hallmarks of an official campaign Web site -- but wasn't affiliated with the presidential effort for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

The Web site invited potential donors to take part in a lavish Mexican cruise featuring celebrities -- some of whom said they'd never heard of the group, including:

Eartha Kitt: Staff says she will not attend.

Rep. Diane Watson: Staff members say they know nothing about the event.

Maya Angelou: Official supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Voters beware

If you are concerned that a Web site is not legitimate or wonder whether it is authorized by a candidate, you can contact the Federal Election Commission's information division toll free at (800) 424-9530 or by e-mail at info@fec.gov. Information about filing a complaint also may be found at the FEC's Web site, www.fec.gov.

Emmett Cash III's expenses exceed $3,000

The organization "Californians for Obama" has collected nearly $10,600 this year, but none has gone to the Obama campaign. Cash has been the biggest beneficiary.

Date / Type / Amount

FEBRUARY

5 Gas / food $131.41

12 Gas $156.29

16 Salary $200.00

26 Gas / photocopies / food $78.93

21 Sign $37.00

MARCH

1 Gas $90.37

6 Salary $500.00

9 Salary $200.55

3 Snacks $161.45

19 Office supplies and food $244.67

26 Office supplies / postage delivery $165.87

APRIL

11 Office supplies / postage $175.14

22 Gas $75.00

MAY

3 Gas $118.95

18 Gas $100.00

JUNE

1 Gas $304.40

22 Gas $245.34

25 Gas $169.67

TOTAL $3,155.04

Source: Federal Election Commission