Robert F. Green (with Ginger)
March 5, 2001 A longtime Republican, Robert Green cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964. But when Bill Clinton was elected 1992, one year after Green had retired as senior vice president of Amarillo National Bank, the former banker switched political poles, reinventing himself as a bankroller for the Democratic Party. Green says that social and economic policies pushed him to the left. "It takes a while before you see the light of day," he told Mother Jones. Republicans, he says, have more access to campaign cash -- especially in the Bush country around his in hometown of Amarillo, Texas. "They got a Rolodex as big as a Ferris wheel," he says. Green is doing his part to make up the difference, giving more than $400,000 in soft money to the Democrats. Since his retirement from banking, Green has stayed active as an investor, serving on the board of an Amarillo-based car dealership called Cross-Country Auto Retailers. But unlike other political donors, he says, he expects no favors in return for campaign contributions. "I'm unusual in that I never ask for anything. My motivation is strictly to advance the cause of the Democratic Party." Like many members of the Mother Jones 400, however, Green sees the culture of money in Washington as tragic. "I think it is sad that a U.S. Senator has to basically beg, borrow, and steal to get their money," he says. -- Michael Scherer | | |
