Congressional Fundraisers Say No To Press
As Congress passes tax rebates for stressed consumers, members are also working overtime to haul in checks of their own for their stressed campaign accounts.
The events range from seafood breakfasts to Mardi Gras bashes, and everyone — except the press — is welcome, as long as they have the money.
Just last month, for instance, around the corner from the White House, Vice President Cheney dropped by as guest of honor for a $5,000-per-political-action-committee fundraiser for Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican fighting to hold on to his seat in New Mexico.
Wednesday night, it was House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell’s turn.
The Michigan Democrat was set to mingle with his donors — up to $5,000 a PAC — at the Atrium Ballroom of the Washington Court Hotel.
While fundraising is most definitely a bipartisan affair, most of the pressure is on congressional Republicans this cycle.
Their incumbents are being outraised by upstart Democratic challengers.
In the House, the National Republican Congressional Committee has raised only $49.6 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s $54.7 million.
In the Senate, the Republican campaign committee, with $31.8 million, lags behind the Democrats’ $55.3 million, according to the latest numbers from the Center for Responsive Politics.
Any excuse for a fundraising fiesta will do. Members who had birthday party receptions included Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) and House Republican Conference Vice Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-Texas).
Requested donations — let’s just call them birthday gifts — were as high as $1,000 and $2,500, respectively.
A Politico reporter briefly — he was quickly escorted out — stopped by Granger’s event, held in a basement room at Bobby Van’s restaurant, where defense and energy industry lobbyists were chatting and nibbling on light fare.
Earlier in the evening, the reporter had popped into a Capitol Hill reception in a townhouse living room for Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), where House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) was supposed to appear.
But there, too, the reporter was shown the door, after a brief chat with a health care lobbyist.
Johnny’s Half Shell restaurant, on the edge of Capitol Hill, seems a favorite haunt with a bipartisan flair.
Within the past few weeks, both Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) and Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) held $1,000-per-PAC events there. Sununu opted for a seafood breakfast; Pastor, for dinner.
It seems the partying never stops. In the last week of January, Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) hosted his sixth-annual Mardi Gras Celebration at the Capitol Hill Club.
The invitation, asking $1,000 a PAC, helpfully noted that one of Bonner’s many committee assignments is “ethics.”
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, seemed to be all about convenience, offering a helpful form allowing donors attending his lunch at B. Smith’s restaurant in Union Station to contribute via credit card.
Baucus, it should be noted, does accept American Express.
Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio) must really like good Chinese food. He has invited potential contributors — at up to $2,500 apiece — to join him at Capitol Hill’s Hunan Dynasty restaurant for as many as three meals in the next few months.
Sports venues remain popular, too. Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) invited donors to join him at a Washington Wizards game — for up to $5,000 a PAC.
On Feb. 26, Sen. Norm Coleman’s RADPAC is hosting “an evening with the Minnesota Wild as they take on the Washington Capitals.”
The Minnesota Republican, facing a difficult reelection bid, is asking for $2,500 per PAC for a pair of tickets to the game.
Then there are the more traditional golf outings — despite the badname that Jack Abramoff has given them.
Rep. Mike Castle (D-Del.) is playing it safer with the weather, hosting his ninth-annual “Castle Golf Outing” on June 16. No donation figures are listed, but the invite does note that the Wilmington, Del., event will begin with a “9 a.m. shotgun start.”
But the most fun, the one your correspondent hopes to be sent to cover, is the Republican National Committee’s Major Donor Winter Retreat in beautiful, non-winter-like Los Angeles.
There, in the cloistered confines of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, those who pony up a mere $15,000 will be able to enjoy breakfast in the “Champagne Room,” dinner at Spago and, of course, the usual rounds of golf, spa visits and beach excursions.
Oh, wait — wonder if the press will be invited.