U.S. Congressional race fundraising controversy

[BlueStar]

Yeah, the news picked up on it yesterday...

http://www.theomahachannel.com/polit...42/detail.html

Rep. Terry Plans Fund-Raiser At Madonna Concert
Democrats Say Artist Is Too Racy For Conservative Stance

POSTED: 8:20 am CDT June 8, 2004
UPDATED: 8:57 am CDT June 8, 2004

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Material Girl is often known for how little material makes up some of her stage outfits.

Supporters of Republican Rep. Lee Terry are about to get top-dollar seats to see Madonna in Washington, D.C. Terry is holding a fund-raiser at the singer's concert, but Nebraska Democratic leaders say the notion is inconsistent with Terry's position on indecency.

State Democratic Chair Steve Achelpohl said Madonna's style is too hot for Terry's conservative stance, which *******s a letter on his Web site after this year's Super Bowl. During the halftime show, Janet Jackson exposed herself to the crowd, and Terry wrote that the show was was "the straw that broke the camel's back" for the Federal Communications Commission.

"Lee Terry has railed on these kinds of performances," Achelpohl said.

An invitation from Terry's campaign calls supporters to join the congressman and Madonna at a concert at the MCI Center in Washington as a political fund-raiser. A private box with Terry runs $2,500 per couple or $1,500 for an individual.

"We're comfortable with doing this," said David Boomer, Terry's campaign manager. "It's all legitimate, all legal."

Terry's camp said he'll continue the fight for clean programming on television, but fans pay to see Madonna's act on stage and that's different.

"I think these things are very common now in Washington," Boomer said. "Concerts at the MCI Center -- and let's face it. She's an entertainer."

Meanwhile, Terry is asking for an apology from the Democratic Party for a draft version of a press release that read: "Porn hotlines and bisexual erotica. Who knew Terry was so kinky?"

Nebraska Democrats said that version was a joke not meant to be sent out, and the fact that it did make it into some mailboxes was a mistake.

It is not at all tied to us/our campaign, but the NE Democratic party fucked it up...this could have been FABULOUS.

Could it have been FABOLOS?

[BlueStar]

Originally posted by Mr. Rhinoceros
Could it have been FABOLOS?

Only if Mike was posting under my name.

[sppunk]

That was in the papers this weekend. That Web site must have just skipped over it somehow.

[BlueStar]

They're talking about it on some conservative talk radio show right now. This is so awesome.

[BlueStar]

And it keeps on going and getting better and better...

[BlueStar]

From the Omaha World Herald...

Dangerous liaisons

Democrats attack Terry fund-raiser

By using Madonna to raise funds, Terry handed a freebie to his opponents.

It's almost mystifying that a politician as experi- enced as U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, having positioned himself as an advocate of cleaner television fare, would pull the dunderheaded stunt of harnessing a Madonna concert as a fund-raising vehicle for his re-election campaign.

Talk about mixed messages. Talk about handing your head to your opponent. About the only explanation that makes sense is too far-fetched to entertain, namely that someone in the Terry camp felt sorry for the Democrats' haplessness in engaging Terry in past campaigns and decided to toss them a freebie.

Which, of course, the Democrats grabbed and exploited. This, in turn, led to further campaign fodder for the Democrats when Terry's people lamely tried to argue that television is one thing, public concerts quite another. As if Madonna had never scandalized a television audience.

Or maybe Terry was trying to make inroads with younger voters by buying up a block of tickets for the singer's upcoming concert in Washington, D.C.

This road, too, leads nowhere. You don't win the affection of younger concert-go- ers by reselling tickets to high rollers at $1,500 a whack.

(One suggestion, made in fun, was that the Terry campaign was providing cover for longtime Republican contributors to attend a potentially racy event. But surely there are less risky ways to reactivate the regular donor pool.)

The high cost of running for public office is one of the darker aspects of modern politics. The resulting pressure to keep the contributions churning sometimes leads to bad decisions, as the 1990s visitors log in the Lincoln Bedroom amply demonstrated.

But at some point in all political careers, a learning curve kicks in, with Precept No. 1 being that you don't manufacture campaign issues for the other side.

When this precept is ignored by an experienced campaign organization, questions of political acumen, to say nothing of judgment, invariably arise.