Fundraiser slated here Aug. 16. Venue still being sought.
Swann
By Tom Murse
Published Jun 16, 2006 13:23
And now the White House wants to turn the tide.
President Bush has agreed to appear with the Republican NFL Hall of Famer at an Aug. 16 fundraising reception in Lancaster County, a Swann campaign official told the New Era.
“It is confirmed that we are going to get the president,” Joel Mack, the regional political director for Swann and running mate Jim Matthews, told the New Era Thursday afternoon.
“We’re still working on a location. In fact, we’re out here searching today,” Mack said. “We’re looking for anyplace right now. A lot of places that could accommodate a visit by the president are probably booked.”
The event is expected to be a private fundraiser only, unlike the massive public rally Bush held at the Lancaster Airport in October 2004, during his re-election campaign.
“It’s going to be a straight fundraiser and nothing else but a fundraiser,” Mack said. “It’s not a rally. It’s a normal campaign stop. Unless the White House plans on working something in, it will be strictly financial.”
He said he could not estimate how much Swann expected to raise from the event, but added, “The president is the president. Any time he comes, it’s a good thing.”
Typically, such fundraisers with the president can net a political candidate anywhere between $800,000 and $1 million. And such a large infusion of cash would be welcome by the Swann campaign.
The question is: Is it too late?
New campaign finance reports show that Rendell raised more than twice as much as Swann in May and early June, and that the governor now has $13.8 million in the bank, more than four times Swann’s $3.3 million.
Political analysts say the challenger needs to raise money — and do it quickly — if he’s to have any chance of defeating the incumbent less than five months from now.
“You can’t run a gubernatorial race without raising $15 to $20 million,” said G. Terry Madonna, the director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs.
“My judgment is that this is the defining moment, and it’s measured in weeks, not months,” Madonna said. “It’s essential in next few weeks that Swann turn this around and that he get on television and counter that almost $5 million in ads Rendell is running, and which have allowed him to get the huge lead in the polls.”
The latest F&M Keystone Poll, released in May, had Rendell beating Swann by 14 percentage points. Other statewide polls have shown the governor holding similar double-digit leads.
The problem that Swann faces is that big donors are hesitant to give to his campaign because some influential Republicans have reportedly written it off as a loss. Even former Gov. Tom Ridge’s fundraising appearances with Swann helped to raise only $15,000.
Last week, The Washington Times reported that Swann’s campaign was suffering from “political fumbles by the White House, the Pennsylvania GOP” and the candidate himself, and were turning the campaign into “a bad joke.”
Lancaster County GOP Chairman David M. Dumeyer said he disagrees that such a sentiment is widespread.
“I don’t get that sense, and I think people who are writing him off do so at their own peril,” he said. “I frankly don’t think that if the president is, in fact, coming, that he does that sort of thing if it’s a losing cause.
“They need the president where he can do the most good,” Dumeyer said. “Apparently he believes he can do some good here.”
To date Swann has, unsurprisingly, outraised Rendell in Lancaster County, by a margin of more than two-to-one. He has received 300 contributions totaling $78,089 from residents here, reports show.
Swann’s largest individual contribution from the county, for $10,000, was written in November by Lancaster resident Grant Markley, the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels Inc.
Swann’s second-largest contributor here is David L. Hollinger, the president and chief executive officer of 4 Seasons Produce in Denver. He has written three checks totaling $7,000 to Swann.
Swann also raised $4,717 at an October fundraiser held at the Manheim home of businessman and former county GOP Chairman Chet Beiler. There are 14 other contributions of $1,000, and the remaining are for lesser amounts.
To date, Rendell has raised $35,625 from only 24 residents of the county. His largest contributions were for $5,000, and he received two of them: one from Lancaster resident Cara Keegan Fry, an assistant at Franklin & Marshall College, and the other from Armstrong chairman and CEO Michael Lockhart, also of Lancaster.
Talkback on LancasterOnline
Welcome to the new TalkBack on LancasterOnline. Please use the comment box below to share your opinion on this
article. If you would prefer to use the previous TalkBack forums instead, please use this link.
