And finally, the greatest privilege of all: a lifelong relationship with Harvard's dedicated network of fund-raising cold-callers.
Aides say that victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and elsewhere have re-ignited his large network of fund-raisers.
Mr. Gingrich has put little effort into building a network of fund-raisers, focusing instead on the debates.
Raising $100,000 now requires getting 50 friends to each give $2,000, a technique that President Bush, with his large network of fund-raisers, has mastered.
Hezbollah's annual budget is more than a hundred million dollars, provided by the Iranian government directly and by an international network of fund-raisers.
This was a network of fund-raisers, many from the business world, who each raised at least $100,000 for Mr. Bush.
Since March 1999, Governor Bush has raised $93.2 million in checks of $1,000 or less, much of it raised by a network of fund-raisers called the Pioneers.
On the campaign trail, Republican presidential candidates and political operatives are seeking to harness a lost network of fund-raisers who propelled President George W. Bush to the White House.
The sheer distance of Alaska from the rest of the country complicated her ability to take care of the most basic kind of presidential preparation work: going to Republican Party dinners, developing a network of fund-raisers and supporters and becoming educated about the issues.
And as critically, the money came after a network of fund-raisers — chief among them the entertainment mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has emerged as one of Mr. Obama's biggest champions — methodically pestered big-name Hollywood figures for checks, pointing to the contrast between Mr. Obama, whatever his perceived shortcomings, and Mr. Romney.
Founders and early investors have sold shares in their start-ups for years, usually through brokers and a small network of funds specializing in private-company transactions.
