| Mr. 18% himself is speaking at an August 1st fundraiser in Birmingham for Jeff Sessions and Alabama Republican House candidates. Realistically, I expect most of the loot Cheney raises will go to Jay Love, Mike Rogers and Wayne Parker since they are in the toughest races this year. Even in Alabama, how many people are prepared to fork over $500 for lunch with Cheney or $2000 for a photo with him? Notice how Republican chairman Mike Hubbard is busily lowering expectations for the event: "We appreciate the vice president's willingness to come to Alabama," Hubbard said. ... He said he expected a good turnout despite the administration's poor approval ratings in other parts of the country. "Most Alabamians respect what the administration is doing," he said. "It is not going to be a huge crowd, but it is not designed to be."
They're downplaying the amount Cheney will bring in, but any money at all flowing to those Republican candidates is too much. We need more and better Democrats in office, not more Cheney style Republicans. What can we do to turn this visit into a net negative for the Republican party? How about something like Washington bloggers and the netroots did when George Bush held a fundraiser for Darcy Burner's opponent? They started a Burn Bush for Burner campaign and raised over $100,000 for Darcy Burner. That's the sort of response that would make the party think twice about sending Cheney back to Alabama for money. There aren't that many places Cheney can go anymore and we ought to make them cross Alabama off his list, too -- read this reaction to a Brooklyn fundraiser: Political experts told The Brooklyn Paper that Fossella risked little by having the unpopular Cheney stump for him in Manhattan’s Gucci Gulch. After all, one consultant told us, voters have short memories. But voters have it in their power to prove that adage wrong. This November, one factor in choosing a candidate should be remembering who his friends are.
What do y'all think of the idea? We have a great progressive, populist Democrat in Josh Segall who might benefit from a Chap Cheney kind of an effort. On the same topic, will Birmingham end up with a multi-thousand dollar security bill for Deadeye Dick, as happened in this city a few weeks ago? |
