The Cash-For-Speaker Program

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Politico:

The cash-for-speaker program

By JONATHAN MARTIN | 7/29/10 4:26 AM EDT
Updated: 7/29/10 6:15 AM EDT

To the House minority leader, “Speaker” Boehner seems to have a nice ring to it.

So much so that months before any midterm votes are cast, John Boehner of Ohio is putting his own face on the GOP’s drive to take back the House by quietly launching a “Boehner for Speaker” committee that aims to boost the party’s lagging fundraising, in part by introducing him as a “regular guy” from Ohio.

But while the effort plays up Boehner’s modest roots, the going rate to participate is pricey: According to materials distributed by Boehner’s camp and obtained by POLITICO, lobbyists and other major donors across the country who give the maximum or help raise $100,000 will get meetings with Boehner, calls from senior aides with updates on the campaign and “VIP access to all events, including roundtables, briefings, breakout discussions and interactive panel discussions.”

Boehner convened a meeting of top Republican lobbyists at the National Republican Congressional Committee last Thursday to enlist them in the cause and armed them with slick, presidential-level brochures and fundraising materials making the case for putting him in the speaker’s chair.

[Documents: Boehner for Speaker brochure and Boehner for Speaker fundraising levels.]

It’s the most aggressive step the clubby Ohioan has taken yet to stamp his imprint on the GOP’s 2010 House campaign and comes as Republicans fret that their lack of money could be the only barrier keeping them from dethroning Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

That was the urgent message Boehner delivered last week to a group of lobbyists, some of whom are his closest advisers, according to two sources in attendance.

“He said that we’re hitting on all cylinders with the exception of funding,” one of the sources said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had $34 million in the bank at the end of the June, while the NRCC had just $17 million on hand.

To bring in more cash, the minority leader has set up a joint committee that allows individual donors to contribute up to $37,800, which will be split between Boehner’s PAC, his reelection account and the NRCC. His reelection funds can be transferred to the NRCC.

Boehner reported raising about $570,000 for the committee during the most recent quarter and is expected to show considerably more in the next filing.

He told the group Thursday that he will be spending almost all of August raising money for Republican House hopefuls and the NRCC.

Don Seymour, a spokesman for Boehner’s PAC, said Boehner will headline fundraising events for more than 30 GOP candidates, traveling state to state by bus.

All told, Boehner will stop in 17 states for events benefiting candidates and the NRCC.