How do you write a story about a person who doesn’t want to be written about?
Sometimes, it’s not worth it, particularly if that person doesn’t leave much of a paper trail of public documents and tries to get his friends and associates not to talk to you.
Fortunately, neither was the case with Bob Castellini, the Cincinnati Reds owner whom our staff decided in a freewheeling discussion about a month ago was the most powerful and influential Cincinnatian alive today – and the closest thing to an heir to Carl Lindner.
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He’s not as rich as Lindner or some of the A-list businessmen in town. He doesn’t give as much money to charity. He’s not as much of a national player, politically. But his wildly successful ownership of the Reds and involvement in all of those other areas makes him the No. 1 power broker in the city.
His friends and business associates talked freely – although not always specifically – about Castellini, most of whom have known him for decades. This is a pretty subjective story (all stories that try to list or rank people are and that’s why journalists love writing them), and some pushed back at the premise. But no one denied that there are maybe five people in the entire city who could fill Lindner’s role and Castellini was on that list.
As with every story of this length, things get cut. As the story said, Castellini isn’t a carbon copy of Lindner. Some argued that Castellini isn’t there yet when it comes to being a local person who is truly national force in political fundraising.
Looking at public records, we found that Castellini and his wife, Susan, have contributed $472,000 to city, state and federal politicians and committees since 2009. Lindner probably would have given millions during that period.
“He played on a different level,” said Tom Williams, a partner of Castellini’s in the Reds, said of Lindner.
One person who didn’t make it into the final version of the story was Mercer Reynolds, a former Cincinnati businessman who was finance chairman of George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign and later ambassador to Switzerland.
Reynolds was pretty candid about Castellini’s role in national GOP politics, particularly during Bush’s presidency. Castellini is a guy who’s known as a Cincinnati and Ohio player, while Reynolds and Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt’s activities had a national scope.
“Bill and I were more active than Bob because we did more than just be in Cincinnati,” Reynolds said. “Bob was purely Cincinnati, but he was a big, big factor and continues to be.”
But President Bush himself provided evidence for Castellini’s influence. Castellini contributed and helped raise money for Bush’s presidential campaigns. One thing I found during my research was the transcript of an Oct. 12, 2004, rally for the Bush campaign in Arizona.
“Bob Castellini and Susie are here,” Bush said before beginning his remarks. “They’ve helped on this event. I want to thank my longtime friend, Bob Castellini.”
You don’t get name checked by the president unless you’re a close friend or have raised big bucks for him. Castellini did both.