Fundraising

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson is telling DC donors about the threat from Democratic challenger Tommy Sowers in invitations for an upcoming event at a downtown DC steakhouse. 

Tommy Sowers – my Democratic opponent – spent 11 years in the U.S. Army, including an assignment as a Special Forces officer in Iraq. He returned to the states and taught at the U.S. Military Academy before recently retiring from the Army. I honor his service to our country.

He appears to be an aggressive campaigner and fundraiser. I am ready for the challenge. Let the superior candidate with the better agenda win.

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The Roy Blunt campaign says it isn't fazed by yesterday's news that Blunt was a "Top Congressional Partier" in 2009.  Try not to laugh when reading this sentence in a story about the designation by The Beacon's Jo Mannies:

Blunt's campaign says his packed public schedule illustrates that he's far more accessible to the public than his likely Democratic rival, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Blunt spokesman Rich Chrismer says it's all that time Blunt spends with the public that's landed him on the list of Top Partiers. But as Blunt and Chrismer know (or should) the events in the Sunlight Foundation database are high-dollar fundraisers -- and exactly zero of Blunt's are in Missouri.

The Sunlight Foundation is looking back on the first year of operation for their new Political Party Time initiative, and announced today that Roy Blunt is one of their "Top Congressional Partiers" for 2009. 

Blunt had the fourth-most parties in their database this year, which the foundation acknowledges isn't a comprehensive collection yet.

It's a Tuesday, which means it's a great day for Roy Blunt to collect big checks from DC lobbyists and PACs.

Blunt's campaign is hosting cocktails and dinner tonight at Ruth's Chris Steak House in downtown Washington tonight – PACs need to bring at least a $2,400 check, and individuals should bring $1,000 to get in.

Details of the event are being distributed by the NRSC, which has previously promised not to "weigh in" on Blunt's primary battle with State Sen. Chuck Purgason.

Roll Call:

Republican kingmakers Fred Malek, an ally of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), and power lobbyist Charlie Black are co-hosting a fundraising dinner for GOP Rep. Roy Blunt’s (Mo.) bid for Senate in 2010.

Malek, a businessman who served as a top adviser to several former GOP presidents, hosted a dinner for Palin earlier this year on one of her rare trips to Washington, D.C. Malek has defended Palin and even served as an intermediary between her another Senate candidate, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who was seeking the former vice presidential nominee’s endorsement.

According to a copy of the invitation, Malek, Black and their spouses “invite you to an intimate dinner in honor of” Blunt. The Dec. 10 event, for which tickets cost from $1,000 to $2,400, will be held at Malek’s McLean, Va., home.

Black -- described as "The Republican Party’s quintessential company" -- was a top advisor to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, and the focus of some controversy in that role.

Opting not to shoot his farm-raised fowl at the Ozark Wings Hatchery and Hunting Preserve in Caulfield, Roy Blunt and friends will be hunting for birds Monday morning just outside of DC at an NRSC fundraiser.  Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) promised earlier this week that the NRSC "wouldn't play spend money in the Republican primaries," but that commitment doesn't seem to apply to previously-scheduled events.

Roy Blunt raised more PAC money in the third quarter than any non-incumbent running for US Senate, according to an analysis published in The Hotline yesterday.

Blunt raised a total of $358,700 from PACs for the quarter, surpassed only by three sitting Senators -- Chuck Grassley, Blanche Lincoln and Harry Reid. 

From a new Roy Blunt fundraising email:

Robin Carnahan is not running a grassroots campaign like ours, but she is spending her time raising money. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden came to Missouri for a big fundraiser for Robin Carnahan where ticket prices were as high as $14,800.

Um, what about the fact that no federal candidate in the country has received more lobbyist money that Blunt, the fact that he's had more insurance industry-fundraisers than any Member of Congress this year, or that $100,400-per-couple ticket price for a private reception with Newt Gingrich last month?

No other candidate in the race is running a "grassroots campaign" quite like that, no. 

The signs were all there:

• March 21: KY3 reports that Roy Blunt has "a totally unwieldy campaign apparatus" and "fundraising isn't going as well as expected"
• April 9: Nine days after the end of the quarter, Blunt says he still hasn't "seen the numbers."
• April 11: A source very close to Blunt tells KY3 that "anything around $500,000 will be respectable."
• April 14: Blunt says, "The last thing I'm worried about is whether we raised the money."

It's not hard to see why Blunt & Co. were lowering expectations. Robin Carnahan almost doubled Blunt's fundraising for the first quarter ($1,048,023 and $542,000, respectively), and almost tripled his total from individual contributors. And at the same time, Blunt burned through almost twice the cash, in less time.

Photo from the Washington Independent.