DFL fundraiser Kaplan is top prospect for ambassador to Morocco

WASHINGTON - Minneapolis attorney Sam Kaplan, a prominent DFL fundraiser, is in line to become the U.S. ambassador to the North African kingdom of Morocco, according to four well-placed Democratic sources with direct knowledge of the appointment.

Kaplan, a top cash "bundler" for President Obama's 2008 campaign finance committee, is being vetted by White House officials and is expected to be named to the post soon, according to the sources.

Neither Kaplan nor the White House had any comment Friday.

As ambassador to Morocco, a moderate Arab nation and U.S. ally, Kaplan would become another voice from Minnesota in the greater Middle East, joining Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, who has traveled extensively in the region to promote peace since being elected to Congress in 2006.

While Ellison was the first Muslim elected to Congress, Kaplan would be one of a small number of Jewish ambassadors who have been sent to the region.

Kaplan, 72, would be the first Minnesotan to serve as a U.S. ambassador since Benson Whitney, who was appointed ambassador to Norway in 2005 by President George W. Bush and still holds that post. He would also follow in the footsteps of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who was President Bill Clinton's ambassador to Japan.

Kaplan's appointment would be subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. His name has been widely circulated in recent weeks as government officials have reportedly been interviewing friends and associates in Minnesota, according to a half-dozen political figures contacted by the Star Tribune.

Kaplan and his wife, Sylvia, a well-known restaurateur, have long been major financiers and power players in Democratic circles in Minnesota, where they helped launch the political career of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone.

Together, the Kaplans raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for the Obama campaign, ranking them among the campaign's top 500 bundlers, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. (Bundling is the collection of donations from a number of contributors.) They were also among the biggest Minnesota fundraisers for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee for president.

Several political associates of the Kaplans said the couple would welcome the posting in Morocco, and both are expected to take up residence there.

Big donors are often rewarded with key ambassadorships, and Kaplan's would be particularly significant for the Obama administration's outreach to the Arab world.

Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, said the region is a sensitive one for U.S. policymakers and was for a long time off-limits to Jewish diplomats.

In modern times, the barrier was broken by Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon's secretary of state, who negotiated an end to the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Syria, and Israel. That episode was followed by American Jewish diplomats such as Samuel Lewis, ambassador to Israel from 1977 to 1985, and Marc Ginsberg, ambassador to Morocco from 1994 to 1998.

"Sometimes the State Department likes to make statements with their appointments," Hunegs said. While he has no direct knowledge of the Kaplan appointment, Hunegs added, "This would be saying that Morocco plays an important role in the Middle East negotiations, and it's seen as a trusted nation for the U.S."

Morocco, with a significant Jewish minority, has served as an intermediary in Arab-Israeli negotiations in the past and could be expected to serve a constructive role again by the Obama administration.

Rick Jauert, a spokesman for Ellison, who is traveling to the Middle East this week as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Ellison knows Kaplan well and would welcome him as an ambassador in the region.

"This would once again be reaching across divides with mutual respect and understanding," Jauert said.