Hsu Steered Major Fundraiser to Obama

At a New York restaurant overlooking Central Park in April 2006, the governor of Pennsylvania sat down to dinner with about a dozen Democratic supporters. The 10-course meal in a private room at Per Se, including dishes like Nova Scotia Lobster Tail "Cuite Sous Vide," cost about $18,000, says a diner who was there. The host, Norman Hsu, was a businessman that the crowd admired but knew little about.

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His tale also shows the foibles of the U.S. political fund-raising system, which attracts a crazy-quilt of donors -- including ordinary citizens, the powerful trying to expand their fame, the ambitious seeking favors and social outsiders seeking a ticket into the American elite. Campaigns say they try to screen this mélange of donors, but the task is difficult and the hunger for cash means they sometimes don't look too closely.

"It is hard to raise money, and everybody is anxious to succeed," says John Catsimatidis, a fellow Democratic fund-raiser. "Nobody wants to think anything is bad about somebody who is doing so much to help. He was a very, very nice man."

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Just how or why he got involved in politics is unclear. In 2004, Mr. Hsu donated $2,000, the most then allowed, to the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry.

Mr. Hsu began contributing generously to an array of Democrats, including California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. He donated $5,000 to Bob Hertzberg, who was running for mayor of Los Angeles. When Bill Richardson ran for governor of New Mexico, Mr. Hsu was among the top contributors, donating $37,000 in all. Mr. Richardson, like most other recipients, now says he'll donate it to charity.

In 2004, Mr. Hsu began giving to federal candidates, including Mrs. Clinton and Illinois Democratic Sen. Barack Obama. He also donated checks from others.

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