Alan D. Solomont (with Susan L.)
March 5, 2001 Alan Solomont's Democratic credentials date back to the 1968 convention in Chicago, where as a page he witnessed the fracturing of the party, both on the streets and in the convention hall. Thirty-three years later, Solomont still believes the party took the wrong position on the Vietnam War. "We should have been against it," he told Mother Jones. But the party's crisis was just the political beginning for Solomont. After making his fortune as a nursing home entrepreneur, he served briefly as national finance chair for the Democratic National Committee in 1997 -- leading Fortune magazine to dub him one of "the people to see in the powerful world of presidential campaign finance." During his fundraising efforts, Solomont says, he kept his financial interests separate from his political work. "There is no connection," he insists. GOP leaders suspected otherwise. In 1997, the Senate Committee of Governmental Affiars subpoenaed Solomont to testify about whether the Clinton administration had eased off on enforcement of nursing home regulations after industry executives made large donations to the Democratic Party. The year before, Solomont had sent a letter to federal regulators complaining about "serious problems and flaws" with enforcement, asking them to limit fines imposed on facilities that violate federal standards. "He got most of what he wanted," reported Time magazine. At the time, Solomont was chief executive of the ADS Group, the largest nursing home chain in Massachusetts, and chair of the Democratic Business Council, which raised about $20 million for the party in 1996. "I have been supporting progressive Democrats for over 20 years because I believe in what they stand for," says Solomont, who currently runs Solomont Bailis Ventures, a Massachusetts nursing home group with investments in Central and South America. He places a variety of issues at the top of his political agenda: broader health care coverage, a more tolerant society, peace in the Middle East, and a more equitable economy. He also says he supports campaign finance reform, including a ban on the kind of soft money he often makes and a rule requiring free television time for candidates. "Television is what's driving this," Solomont says, noting the record contributions that flooded party coffers during the last election. Nonetheless, he adds, the influence of campaign contributions in Washington has been overstated in recent years. The most important strings, he says, are pulled by trade groups, not wealthy campaign contributors. "When you see people really influence," Solomont notes, "it is through organizations and associations." -- Michael Scherer | | |
