'Romney has a Koch Problem': Protesters Stake Out Romney's Fundraising Sweep

Hundreds of protesters descended upon a fundraising trifecta for Gov. Romney in the Hamptons on Sunday that brought $3 million for the Romney campaign.

Protester Shannone Rhea was there voicing her opposition to the influence of money on elections, The Southampton Press reports. "The people attending the fundraiser are buying our election," she said. "We're protesting Romney and Obama."

"There are still injustices being done to the 99 percent by the 1 percent," said protester Aron Kay of Brooklyn. "The election is being prostituted."

"I just think if you're lower income -- one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."One of the three $50,000 per-guest fundraisers was at the home of the infamous David Koch, prompting a Moveon.org to fly a plane with a banner reading, "Romney has a Koch Problem."

The two other fundraisers were held at the multi-million dollar estates of Revlon chairman Ronald Perelman and U.S. Ambassador Clifford Sobel.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the arriving guests at the Perelman extraganza:

The line of Range Rovers, BMWs, Porsche roadsters and one gleaming cherry red Ferrari began queuing outside of Revlon Chairman Ronald Perelman's estate off Montauk Highway long before Romney arrived, as campaign aides and staffers in white polo shirts emblazoned with the logo of Perelman's property -- the Creeks -- checked off names under tight security.

A New York City donor, who would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. "I don't think the common person is getting it," she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. "Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.

"We've got the message," she added. "But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies -- everybody who's got the right to vote -- they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income -- one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.