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06/22/2003 Archived Entry: "Things that cost $2,000"
Things that cost $2,000 The subject of presidential fund-raising has come up, and a couple of major dailies have noticed. The NYTimes has an op-ed called 'The $2,000 Campaign Aperitif': "There's nothing like having a few friends over for a cocktail or two," President Bush told more than 1,200 Republicans who paid $2,000 apiece last week to begin what will be a record-breaking binge of Republican money-raising. The president's gratitude went over well with the Washington crowd, who ponied up $3.5 million. Even more, it underlined the extraordinary gilded age of fat-cat politicking that has befallen the nation with the intersection of Bush tax cuts favoring the affluent — $1.7 trillion worth and counting — and the start of the president's phantom primary campaign season. While the Washington Post goes for the populist angle with 'The $2,000 Hot Dog': PRESIDENT BUSH says that "the political season will come in its own time," but the fundraising season is already in full swing. Mr. Bush collected an astonishing $3.5 million at a reception here the other night; $2,000 got you the chance to eat hot dogs and nachos standing up in a hotel ballroom. That take, while probably a record, is apt to be eclipsed at a New York event this week. Overall, the president's team expects to vacuum up $20 million in the space of just a few weeks. To put that amount in perspective, consider that the president's nine Democratic rivals combined raised $25 million during the first three months of the year. Just a few years ago, $20 million was considered a daunting amount, and it was a test of a candidate's viability to try to collect that sum by Jan. 1 of the election year. For the 2004 campaign, Mr. Bush, taking advantage of a doubling of the individual contribution limit from $1,000 to $2,000, expects to raise at least $170 million -- overtaking his record $100 million haul in 2000. And remember, that's for a primary "campaign" in which Mr. Bush is unopposed. His Democratic rivals, who don't have anything like the Bush fundraising machine and therefore can't afford to give up federal matching funds, will be limited to raising about $46 million -- and they'll be lucky to get that much.
Replies: somebody speaks up.
Whores and johns... why do I feel like I'm one of those about to get f**ked?
Posted by lonestar @ 06/23/2003 01:13 PM NY
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