Days after Republican glove-smeller Steve Chabot of Ohio again voted against expanding health care for needy kids, President Bush is making sure that no bad deed goes unrewarded with a generous fundraising visit:
U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot is welcoming the president today to the Hyde Park home of Cincinnati Reds owner Bob Castellini for a dinner-time fund-raiser for the seven-term congressman.Just how much money Chabot expects to raise is unclear. Chabot said Sunday that he “really doesn’t know.”
“It certainly will be helpful to the campaign,” he said. “How helpful remains to be seen.”
Tickets for the event, which has been in the planning stages for “a few months,” Chabot said, start at $1,500 per person. Those who want a personal meeting with the president pay $10,000 a couple, which “a small number of people” will do. Any amount raised over the legal limit of $2,300 per person will be given to the National Republican Congressional Campaign, Chabot said.
“I’m very pleased to have (the president) coming. It will be very helpful to the campaign,” he said. “It’s also always good for the community to have the high visibility of a president coming.”
The OHDP is on message:
Chabot faces state Rep. Steve Driehaus, a Democrat from Price Hill. The fundraiser comes a little more than a week after Chabot voted to uphold the president’s veto of the children’s health insurance program.It’s a detail that didn’t escape the attention of the Ohio Democratic Party.
“Apparently, loyalty to Bush beats loyalty to children and Chabot is getting his payoff for dutifully playing Bush’s puppet,” Chairman Chris Redfern said.
In fact, Driehaus has a rally scheduled for this afternoon to highlight Bush’s ties to Chabot – and, with a backdrop of children, highlight Chabot’s vote on the children’s health insurance program.
More from Driehaus here. With votes this bad, Chabot is going to need every penny in order to pre-emptively nuke his competition.
The Enquirer also picks up another fun nugget: while the fundraiser was actually held in the district of perennially embattled Rep. Jean “Globetrotter” Schmidt, she wasn’t invited to the event! Ouch!
…I believe I am now allowed (and authorized) to laugh at Mean Jean.
I dislike Chabot a lot, but jeebus Democrats are obsessed about this district. They’ve poured money and candidates into this district in 4 of the past 6 cycles (96, 02, 04, 06), and never come within 8 points of Chabot.
Chabot brings home pork and is liked by a lot of social conservative west-siders. It’s pretty clear the man has a floor of support at about 52% of the district, and Democratic resources would be better spent elsewhere. Like, 5 miles east.