Israel Matzav

J Street founder's Obama payoff

President Obama has named J Street co-founder Alan Solomont, who was also the Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee during the Clinton administration, the new United States ambassador to Spain. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the US Senate (Hat Tip: Rick Moran).

The nomination continues Obama's pattern of rewarding major players in financing his campaign -- which broke every presidential fund-raising record in the book -- with plum diplomatic posts.

Solomont, a long-time Democratic money man, bundled at least $500,000 in contributions for Obama, and Solomont and his family gave nearly $230,000 themselves to candidates in the 2008 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

He is a Weston investor-philanthropist who runs Solomont Bailis Ventures and serves on several boards, including Boston Medical Center, the Kennedy Library, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps and other national service programs.

Obama pledged during the campaign to reduce the number of political appointees and boost the number of career diplomats serving as American envoys abroad, but his selections so far have been heavy on major fund-raisers for coveted posts, including the ambassadorships in London, Paris, and Tokyo.

By the way, if you read down to the biographies of that article, you will see that he also served on the board of the New Israel Fund.

What could go wrong?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:33 AM