Parker Griffith has in fact spent so much money on his re-election that he's dipping into his personal fortune to prop up his campaign, loaning himself $75,000 on Saturday. Griffith's campaign already owed $250,000 to his personal funds, meaning that without personal loans, Parker Griffith for Congress would be financially bankrupt.
Of course, we already knew Parker Griffith for Congress is morally bankrupt but it's absolutely astounding that an incumbent Congressman is unable to raise enough money to beat back challenges from a political newcomer and a County Commissioner. And ironic that the more serious challenge is coming from Commissioner Mo Brooks even though Griffith has outspent him roughly 20 to 1.
Money talks, but not always loudly enough to make people forget you're a sorry, lying excuse for a Congressman .... thank heavens!
FEC pre-primary reports for federal candidates in Alabama were due at midnight on May 20. The table below summarized the information reported by candidates in contested races. You can search for all the reports here. No pre-primary reports are listed for Shelia Smoot in AL-07 or David Maker in AL-05.
In the 5th District, it's looking like a two-man (yes, they're all men!) race on both sides: Griffith vs. Brooks and Raby vs. Shepard. Howie just doesn't have the funds he would need to make up his name id disadvantage across the district. On the Republican side, Les Phillip once again spent more than he raised -- that's typical in the final days of an election, but Philip has been doing it ever since he got into the race. His fundraising expenditures are way out of line; it's like he's churning money. Phillip pays both Base Connect and Century Data, Republican direct mail firms who have been accused of fleecing longshot GOP candidates.
In the 7th District, Terri Sewell has obviously been spending heavily on media, and a recent poll indicated that strategy is beginning to pay off as her name id and preference numbers move into the top tier. The big question in this district is which two candidates -- Hilliard, Sewell, Smoot -- will make it into a runoff.
Bobby Bright will have plenty of money to run a strong GE campaign and the big players on the Republican side seem to have lined up behind Martha Roby.
Democratic candidate Steve Raby is one of only 4 Democratic challengers nationwide to outraise the incumbent Republican -- in this case turncoat Parker Griffith.
Raby said, "I am proud of our fundraising effort. My message is simple; this election is not about politics and name calling. This election is about which candidate has the experience to serve in Congress and best protect the interest of North Alabama. I believe this support reflects my years of service to North Alabama, not only for my work with Senator Howell Heflin but also for years of working with state and local officials, and with Congress, on economic development projects to create jobs across the Tennessee Valley."
The first quarter fundraising reports are just now becoming available online. The table below is a work in progress -- I'll be filling in the blanks when more information shows up. Here's the big news:
Parker Griffith (R, Opportunity) had to give back a ton of money (still waiting on mine) plus he spent a ton of money and his Cash on Hand advantage over Mo Brooks is now less than $200K, down from more than half a million at last report. Griffith's best hope in the Republican primary was to outright buy the race. He may be in trouble on that score. Can't wait to look at his donors -- are they local folks or PACs looking for Washington influence?
A couple of candidates have released fundraising totals, even though their reports aren't available yet. Terri Sewell has reported contributions of $185,000 and Steve Raby's campaign just issued this press release:
Despite a later start in qualifying for the election for the 5th Congressional District, the Raby campaign has finished the first reporting period strong. With almost $200,000 in contributions, Steve Raby’s message is resonating with people in the Tennessee Valley.
Raby stated “I am proud of our fundraising effort. While this is just the start of the campaign, I am so thankful to our early contributors. My message is simple; this election is not about politics and name calling. This election is about which candidate has the experience to serve in Congress and best protect the interest of North Alabama. I believe this support reflects my years of service to North Alabama, not only for my work with Senator Howell Heflin but also for years of working with state and local officials, and with Congress, on economic development projects to create jobs across the Tennessee Valley.”
Raby further stated “With almost $200,000 raised in the first 30 days of the campaign, we feel confident that our fundraising success will continue. This is such an inspiration, to receive the generous support of our friends. I genuinely believe we will have all the tools we need to communicate with people of North Alabama for the June 1 Democratic Primary election.”
The majority of the contributions to the Raby for Congress campaign are, indeed, from North Alabama and represent a diverse group of Tennessee Valley business leaders, attorneys, farmers, and educators.
Ron Sparks says he has repaid that half million dollar personal loan from River Bank of Montgomery, and that his campaign didn't need the money after all.
(But they paid for it in 6 solid weeks of bad publicity, anyway.)
The loan scheme was an incredibly boneheaded financial move on the part of the Sparks campaign. It was obviously supposed to be eye wash to disguise the fact that his 2009 fundraising was pitiful, and instead called attention to that fact -- and distracted attention from whatever his message might have been in Feb. and March.
Now I realize that according to the old Montgomery Rules, mere mortals were not supposed to question how a career public employee with an $80K salary qualified for a half million dollar loan or notice that without that loan and the PAC contributions he raked in after the filing deadline, Sparks' cash on hand would have been only $89K. And for darned certain no one was supposed to keep asking questions when he implied that virtually anyone could walk into the bank and get a loan like that. Unfortunately for Sparks, times have changed and the old Montgomery Rules don't apply now that salaries, financial records and a candidate's own statements are readily available to anyone with an internet connection.
The loan debacle is a completely self-inflicted wound and it epitomizes the thing that most concerns me about Ron Sparks -- it feels like he's always playing catch-up, a day late and a dollar short, as though he doesn't realize the political situation is constantly evolving and he and his proposals have to evolve too. For instance, here are three major planks of Sparks' platform, all borrowed:
Education Lottery - Don Siegelman, circa 1998 and Siegelman got the idea from the State of Georgia
Bingo & casino gambling - Sweet Home Alabama, early 2009
Highway spending plan - Sen. Lowell Barron, early 2009
No new ideas, and do you notice that none of these old ideas has been particularly successful? A leader should be willing to seek a new direction instead of heading down the same dead end path over and over again. I don't get the feeling that Ron Sparks is interested in doing that as governor.
Y'all probably get tired of me nagging all the time about strategic giving, but a gift today is worth more to Alabama state candidates than a gift tomorrow will be. That's because today's contribution will make it onto their 45 day financial report -- where it can provide some favorable PR to your candidate and inspire other people to give as well. Today's contribution has leverage that tomorrow's is lacking. Last but not least, small contributions from individuals are clean money -- in contrast to five or six figure contributions (which are quite legal) from those who expect something in return.
So far, I've only received an end of cycle fundraising ask from gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis -- it included a video (below the fold) of some supporters sharing their reasons for giving. Where are all the other Democratic candidates who could, with a few emails (cheap!) raise a little more cash before the books close? Y'all are literally leaving money on the table.
It's that time again! Federal candidates have to file quarterly reports and the deadline to vote with your dollars is midnight tonight! These deadlines matter a lot in Congressional races, such as AL-03, AL-05 and AL-07 because other donors and especially institutions like the DCCC use fundraising sucess as a way to decide which candidates they will back.
This is particularly important for Josh Segall in AL-03 because he isn't in a primary and the DCCC can commit to help him early without stepping on the democratic process locally -- if only they will. Why should you support Josh Segall? Because he's running against a guy co-sponsoring the bill to repeal health care reform, calling it "a massive government intervention". Last week Segall told LiA he definitely would oppose any repeal attempt. That alone ought to be good for a few bucks from Alabama Democrats.
Seriously folks, this is an important fundraising deadline and looking good in the first quarter will make it easier for them to raise money from other people next quarter. We need to support Democrats - and let them know where the support is coming from.
Here's a nifty ActBlue page that let's you pick the candidate(s) of your choice. For those candidates who don't have an ActBlue page, I'm sorry you're left out, but you need to get with the program if you want money from the blogosphere.
Sparks filed the appropriate paperwork with the Alabama Secretary of State that very day. At the time, we all wondered if he had only just raised (or spent) $25,000 or if Sparks had just forgotten about that filing requirement. Now that the financial reports have been released, we can see that Sparks indeed passed the $25,000 mark no later than June 12, 2009 when Mack Cooper contributed $25,000. By rights, he should have filed the statement establishing a principal campaign committee within 5 days of passing that milestone ... say June 17th. Instead, he filed the form on July 29th, the day of Danny's reminder.
Here's my reminder to the folks at Ron Sparks 2010: You still have another financial report to file. Alabama's Fair Campaign Practices Act requires
(b) Each principal campaign committee, political action committee, and elected state and local official covered under the provisions of this chapter, shall annually file with the Secretary of State or judge of probate, as designated in Section 17-5-9, reports of contributions and expenditures made during that year. The annual reports required under this subsection shall be made on or before January 31 of the succeeding year.
Now, Sparks has filed a 2009 annual report (it even includes 11 days of 2010) for his gubernatorial committee (SPARKS, RON (GOV)) but as of this morning, the Secretary of State's website does not list a 2009 annual report for his other committee -- (SPARKS, RON) -- that he's used for Ag. Commissioner runs. That committee also has not been terminated, per the SoS website. It doesn't seem to matter whether it was active or not, but we know there was in fact activity because Ron Sparks transferred $107,702.02 from there to his gubernatorial account.
The penalty for not filing these reports is stiff ...
A certificate of election or nomination shall not be issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who shall fail to file any statement or report required by this chapter. A certificate of election or nomination already issued to any person elected or nominated to state or local office who fails to file any statement or report required by this chapter shall be revoked.
... and I'd hate to see the Sparks candidacy get in trouble over this. More selfishly, I'd also really like to see the information -- so consider this a friendly reminder to please file the damned report.
BTW, Treasurer Kay Ivey and Rep. Robert Bentley, also running for governor, are in the same situation with a gubernatorial committee and one for their current offices. Both have already filed disclosures for both their committees.
Everybody had to report year end campaign fundraising and expenses last week -- candidates for state races as well as those seeking federal office. This is a little late, but here's our standard summary table of financial info for Alabama congressional candidates for the last quarter of 2009.
Incredibly, super conservative Jo Bonner has a challenger ... from the right. More confusion to both of them!
Bobby Bright is in a supposedly precarious position in AL-02, but his fundraising is still looking good and he is sitting on a nice little nest egg. Martha Roby seems to have a small hole in her bucket, too.
In AL-03, Josh Segall is hanging tough with incumbent Mike Rogers. It's hard to believe that at this point in the last cycle Segall was barely in the race and trailed Rogers by about $800,000 in cash on hand. This time Segall already has decent name id across the district and the two contenders are only separated by $117,000. This is a great pickup opportunity for Democrats and I hope the DCCC will see it that way -- and take action to help this time!
In the 5th district, Griffith still has a ton of money -- unless he's had to give most of it back, lol -- but Mo Brooks had a good quarter and it's looking like he ought to have enough to mount a strong challenge to the Republican incumbent Griffith. Les Phillip is raising money just fine, but his bucket seems to have a hole in the bottom and it all runs out again. Flashpoint recently had an excellent look at fundraising in AL-05.
Things are beginning to shake out in AL-07 where a sizable field is going after an open seat. This is a strongly Democratic district so the June 1 primary is the brass ring here. Terri Sewell continues to do well in the money department with a big lead in cash on hand. She has a loyal cadre of online detractors who seem to think she's a conservative in disguise. I don't know, but hope we're going to squeeze in a brief interview with her Friday and try to put some of the chit-chat to bed. Of course, we'd love to interview any of the AL-07 candidates, so you guys with ties to the campaigns, please put a bug in their ears. Earl Hilliard, Jr. had his best fundraising quarter yet, although he's still far behind Sewell in cash on hand. Shelia Smoot had a major slump -- is it because Birmingham just has election fatigue and anyone with political money to contribute had already been hit up by mayoral candidates 4 or 5 times, or is she just not clicking with folks? I've seen her speak and she's able and energetic, but something is not working here. There are some signs of life in Martha Bozeman's campaign, we'll see. The candidates who don't appear here did not raise a significant amount of money last quarter.
Tim James (R) finished 2009 with more cash on hand than any other candidate -- on either side. That's partly because he probably has more personal money than any candidate on either side -- he loaned his campaign $2 million in 2008 -- but he also has good friends with deep pockets. But don't worry ... the generosity of those deep pocketed friends is all on behalf of good government.
James reported raising $2.06 million in 2009 ($2.12 if you include in-kind contributions) and although he had 935 contributions from individuals, 59% of that haul came from just 3 people.
Contributions:
Warren J. Williamson, Jr. - 6/4/09, $50,000 Guice Slawson - 6/12/09, $250,000 John M. McGinnis - 9/30/09, $250,000
James reported approximately 935 contributions from individuals totalling around $1.24 million or roughly $1332 per contribution, on average. If you just take out the $550,000 those three men contributed, the average contribution drops to $745. Pretty stunning.
The loans are important too, because that extra $700,000 that conveniently showed up in the last 2 days of 2009 allowed James to claim the title of most cash on hand of anyone in the race, and by a comfortable margin. He reported $2.62 million, besting his nearest GOP rival, Bradley Byrne, by $800,000. James had personally loaned his campaign $2 million in 2008, with considerable fanfare, so he needed to show a big advantage over Byrne and the loans allowed him to do just that.
As a big fan of small "d" democracy, I much prefer to see campaigns with many smaller donors and advocate for strict caps on contributions if not actual public financing of elections. Since Mr. James was doing a press conference in Huntsville yesterday, I decided to attend in hopes of getting his view on this small group of donors who are so obviously instrumental to his campaign. Video below the fold.
Parker Griffith's year end financial disclosure records show a sharp drop -- down 37% from the 3rd quarter -- in his fundraising for the 4th quarter of 2009. Nearly a third of his contributions from individuals came from oncologists -- is he now the Rep. from Cancer? He had expenses of about $56,000 and, on top of that, Griffith was forced to refund $19,550 in the final 8 days of the reporting period . So much for "nobody's asking for their money back." I am still waiting for a comprehensible explanation of why Griffith won't return my pittance. In light of this report, the initial excuse, "The money's just not there" actually looks a bit more plausible.
No matter how progressive, no matter how principled, no matter how much their values align with yours, the simple fact is that Democratic candidates can't win elections without money. And if they can't get it from individual small donors, they'll be forced to turn to the folks who can write big checks and who may try to call in favors for those checks later on.
In that sense, the netroots is truly revolutionizing politics, by offering access to a large pool of folks who are savvy and engaged, but may not have the price of entry for $5000 a plate dinners to bend the ear of potential decision makers. We're interested in good government that works for average Americans, not just for the wealthy. To make it happen, we have to open up our wallets and give to the candidates we believe in, even if our personal pain threshold is only $5 or $10. A thousand $5 contributions is a lot healthier for democracy than a single $5000 one, IMHO. So unlimber your credit cards, this is your chance -- the books close for federal candidates at midnight tonight.
Our best bet to elect more and better Democrats from Alabama is Josh Segall in AL-03. Josh came heartbreakingly close to picking off incumbent Mike Rogers (R, What am I doing in Congress?) last November -- a little more money or support would have flipped that seat for us in 2008 -- and we need to make sure he has the resources to do it right in 2010. He's one of only a handful of candidates to reach out to the Alabama netroots so far and we know he's far more progressive than the guy he's trying to replace.
It may seem early, but Josh Segall is already working hard to line up the resources to win in 2010 -- he just held 8 events in 11 days all over the state and has brought in more new donors than ever before. He sent this email yesterday:
Every day, week and month is a critical part of our plan to win next year. We have to convince hundreds of thousands of people to vote for a new direction in this district.
We’ll do it by knocking on more doors than have ever been touched in this district, by holding more town hall meetings, house parties and fundraisers than anyone has ever had. We are working on that effort NOW and we’re working as hard in September of 2009 as we will be a month before the election.
The midnight fundraising deadline is important to building momentum and to garnering national attention and national support for Segall in AL-03. Yes, I'm talking about the DCCC who spent millions on Parker Griffith and Bobby Bright last year that, in hindsight, would have been better invested in Josh's race. Hopefully, we won't see a repeat of that this cycle. Segall's campaign really is working like it's already 2010 and, if their event in Huntsville is any indication, people are excited about his candidacy and digging deep to help him beat his goals and beat Mike Rogers in 2010. Josh can win, but he needs our help to do it.
September 30 is the end of the fundraising quarter for federal candidates and, of course, everyone wants to report healthy numbers. To this end campaigns often cite the filing deadline in an attempt to motivate supporters to give one more time or give for the first time. This time they aren't alone. Artur Davis is also using the Sept. 30 deadline to encourage contributions even though he's running for Governor in 2010, not Congress.
It's a smart move that reminds supporters time is passing and takes advantage of end end of quarter "bandwagon" effect fairly prevalent in the online political community. This email is from Senior Advisor Jessica Vanden Berg:
I hope you'll help us finish September on a strong fundraising note -- and position our campaign for success heading into October, November, December and then on to 2010. Can you help?
Over the last three months, Artur has been working night and day to reach out to Alabama voters. ...
And as you know, we did it all without relying on all the usual Montgomery insiders and power players. To support these efforts, we rely on you, and so we're setting an ambitious grassroots fundraising goal of $25,000 by the end of the quarter, September 30th.
Even though he's not subject to the reporting requirements of the FEC (so the end or quarter deadline is irrelevant) Davis is using the proximity of Sept. 30 to push small donors to contribute. Their goal is to raise $25 K from small donors. In a really nice touch, they even include an Alabama shaped "bat" to show how much they've raised so far.
(More and Better Democrats! Josh is one! Send him some love... - promoted by herding old cats)
Dropped by a fundraiser for Josh Segall tonight - our endorsed candidate in AL-03. Josh nearly beat do-nothing Mike Rogers in 2008. Unfortunately, I had to leave early to get to another appointment and did not get to stay and record his speech.
Josh is raising money all over the state this week. Monday in Anniston. Last night and tonight in Birmingham. Tomorrow in Huntsville. He's working hard to help us get rid of Rogers.
Michele Bachman made some McCarthy sounding comments on MSNBC the other night and it propelled her opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg to raise record money through Act Blue. In fact Tinklenberg has now raised $268k and rising through Act Blue and most have that has come over the weekend.
Well we think we've found the next Incumbent, Mike Rogers, whose scare tactics should cause us all to be fearful. And we haven't had to look that far.
Rogers released attack ads on Friday equating opponent Joshua Segall as being a liberal because of his father's client and being named to the DCCC Red to Blue list. And he's the one accusing Segall of running a negative campaign. He's going on a Bachman like witch-hunt and he needs to be stopped.
This has just gone too far. We need your help in Alabama where we can win this race.
(ActBlue is a little slow right now -- must be all those last minute donations -- so be patient or go directly to the candidate's website to donate. - promoted by mooncat)
This is your last, best chance to leverage a donation to your favorite candidate or candidates. How? By giving before midnight tonight. See, everything you give before the quarter ends at midnight shows up on the FEC filing, showing all and sundry what great support that candidate has, thereby encouraging other folks to give him or her even more in the last weeks before the November 4 election. So, don't wait to make that contribution, 'cause the third quarter turns into a pumpkin in just a few hours.
May I suggest a contribution to one or more of the following Alabama candidates?
Of course, there's always the Obama/Biden campaign which will be needing a ton of money over the next 5 weeks.
The fact that Jay Love (AL-02) and Wayne Parker (AL-05) invited George W. Bush to host a fundraiser for them provides a measure of just how hard up for cash Alabama Republicans are this year.
There is an invisible man in the 2008 election: the president of the United States.
Republican candidates have all but shunned him, save those who need him to help raise money. And to the extent any president can keep a low profile, George W. Bush is doing it.
Saddled with one of the lowest approval ratings in polling history, the president is still in demand to shake the party money tree, though almost all of that is done out of the public eye.
Even next door in Mississippi, the Republican Senate candidate -- in a very close race -- declined to appear with Bush:
``Senator Wicker is running his own race,'' campaign spokesman Ryan Annison said.
Bush did attend a fundraiser for Wicker this summer that brought in $1 million; the men, though, didn't appear together in public, Annison said.
So, Parker and Love are desperate enough to invite Bush down for a fundraiser in Huntsville. Now Bush has stood them up and they'll get Deadeye Dick Cheney instead.
The White House announced late Wednesday night that President Bush is canceling a planned trip to Huntsville today in order to stay in Washington and consult with his economic advisers.
Bush also had planned to attend a Republican fundraiser and tour a waste facility here. Vice President Dick Cheney will attend the Huntsville fundraiser.
Do you suppose they'll offer a refund to people who pledged $10,000 for a picture with the President but will now find themselves standing next to Cheney -- who may or may not even show up in the pictures?
In Alabama's 5th District, Republican Wayne Parker seems a bit confused as to who he's running against. His latest ad gives Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi more attention than his actual opponent, Dr. Parker Griffith. Barack Obama even gets a mention -- at least Obama will be on the ballot in Alabama, albeit for a higher office. With the corny music and choppy flow of this ad, I wonder if they're running it on television at all -- it feels more like a low budget internet-only spot.
Let me tell you why I don't think these types of ads are going to do the job this year for Peanut Parker -- or the many other Republicans busily running for Congress against Pelosi and Obama. From Rasmussen, Tuesday, July 08, 2008, Democrats Hold onto Solid Lead in Generic Congressional Ballot:
Democrats continue to lead Republicans by double-digits in the Rasmussen Reports generic congressional ballot. When given the choice, 47% of voters nationwide would vote for their district’s Democratic candidate, while 34% would choose their Republican candidate.
This is not 1996 (when Peanut Parker last ran for Congress) or even 2004 when Howard Dean was seeking the presidency. Voters have more confidence in Democrats than in Republicans right now, just as they did in 2006 when the GOP lost 31 House seats. If all they know about a candidate is that he's a Democrat, that's a positive thing for him. Perhaps Dr. Griffith should send Peanut Parker a note of thanks for reminding voters that he's a Democrat, because voters like Democrats right now. Frankly, I'm grateful to Peanut for the reminder that Parker Griffith supported Howard Dean back in 2004 -- maybe he's a better Democrat than I thought he was.
A Birmingham News story by Jeff Hansen and Michael Tomberlin starts off with this information about Dick Cheney's recent visit:
Republican leaders said they raised $125,000 to $150,000 Friday with a luncheon at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club where Vice President Dick Cheney was the special guest.
About 100 guests paid $500 each to attend, and several paid $2,000 per couple to have their photographs taken with the vice president, said Mike Hubbard, chairman of the state Republican Party.
Does that math work for you? 100 guests times $500 each equals $50,000. They only say that "several" paid $2000 per couple for the photo op. Several is a loose term, but I don't think it stretches to the 37 to 50 couples needed to make up the difference between that $50,000 and the "$125,000 to $150,000 raised."
I have another question about the amount raised. Assuming Cheney really did bring in $125,000, is that gross or net? Because there were some expenses, you know. Did Shoal Creek Country Club donate the space and the lunch? Surely the Republican Party had to pay for that out of the receipts. What about the Alabama state trooper escorting the motorcade or the Birmingham police and Jefferson County sheriff's deputies who blocked adjoining roads? What about the cost of feeding Blue Moon barbeque to the 75 people who remained on Cheney's plane while he was at the Country Club? In fact, what about the cost of flying Cheney and that huge entourage down here for a fundraiser?
That stuff isn't free and I hope we aren't going to be told that the taxpayers picked up the tab for all that. Cheney didn't conduct official government business while he was here -- this was a political fundraising trip and the taxpayers should not foot the bill.
A couple of weeks ago, President Bush dropped in for a fundraiser in Atlanta to benefit the campaign of Republican Rick Goddard. Goddard's campaign ended up paying a portion of the travel costs.
The flight to and from Georgia was the only trip on Bush's Tuesday agenda, which prompted Marshall, Goddard's opponent, to suggest that his Republican opponent pick up the entire cost of the presidential visit.
Vice President Dick Cheney flew to Macon for a Goddard fund-raiser last month. Douglas Moore, a spokesman for Marshall, said such visits cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"These things are wrong. Rick knows it. This is a character issue," Moore said.
Baker said the Goddard campaign will write a check for $40,000 to the Republican National Committee, which will use that money to reimburse the federal government.
"We're in full compliance with federal law that's been in place for 30 or more years," Baker said.
Congressional hopeful Rick Goddard's campaign shows a $15,000 payment to the Republican National Committee to help pay for the trip, which undoubtedly cost much more than that.
...
Federal regulations require that a campaign pay the equivalent of a first-class airline ticket for each campaign traveler on a flight - meaning people deemed to be traveling with the president or vice president for a political reason and not an official one.
...
The Government Accountability Office, which investigates federal spending on behalf of Congress, studied the presidential and vice presidential travel for a 2000 report that focused on the cost of foreign travel. That remains the latest GAO report on the issue, according to a GAO spokeswoman in Washington. The study put the cost of operating C-32 jet airplanes like the one Cheney flew on to Macon last month at about $14,000 an hour, in 1999 dollars.
That doesn't include the federal government's security costs, the cost of getting the vice president's limousine to a location or the local security costs.
Aaron Schock's campaign also paid travel expenses when Bush visited Peoria on his behalf last month. The total amount was not revealed.
Is the Alabama Republican Party reimbursing taxpayers -- both federal and local -- for the expense of bringing Cheney to Birmingham for a fundraiser? Has anyone asked them to do so or is it just assumed that because it's Alabama, no one minds?
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R-Bridge to Nowhere), who famously informed us all that the Internet is "not a truck" ("it's a series of tubes"), was so good at shaking down big mules with his Northern Lights PAC that he piled up more sleaze-bucks than he could spend on his own campaigns.
So when you have excess money, what do you do? Why, invest it, of course! Invest in fellow legislators, to make sure they vote the "right way". And of course, once you're into them for a few large, they owe you, and it's just so easy to come back to the sugar daddy every election. So the hook is set - corruption is a matter of habit, isn't it.*
Guess What? (come across the fold to find out What)
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Time Magazine names the Republican primary in North Alabama one of 
Parker Griffith
Our best bet to elect more and better Democrats from Alabama is 
September 30 is the end of the fundraising quarter for federal candidates and, of course, everyone wants to report healthy numbers. To this end campaigns often cite the filing deadline in an attempt to motivate supporters to give one more time or give for the first time. This time they aren't alone. Artur Davis is also using the Sept. 30 deadline to encourage contributions even though he's running for Governor in 2010, not Congress. 
