Posted on 07/10/2009 7:52:07 PM PDT by Libloather
Raising Money To Unseat Dodd
Three GOP Hopefuls Filling War Chests In Preparation For 2010 Election
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
The Hartford Courant
July 8, 2009
Greenwich millionaire Tom Foley has raised more than $530,000 in the first 26 days of his U.S. Senate bid to unseat Democrat Chris Dodd.
Another Republican hopeful, former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, says he has raised more money than Foley, but the exact total is not due until the official filings July 15. A third, state Sen. Sam Caligiuri, has raised about $125,000, but he says that his total is artificially low because he was distracted by the hectic pace of the end of the legislative session at the state Capitol in Hartford.
As the former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Foley, 57, is well known to political insiders but not to the general public. Foley was named as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in San Diego in 1996 because of his fundraising prowess.
Foley's campaign manager, Gregg Keller, announced the total Tuesday morning, well before the July 15 deadline for Senate candidates. Keller did not have details on the number of donors, the names of any prominent contributors, or the campaign's overall fundraising goal in its attempt to defeat the well-funded Dodd.
Simmons, 66, widely viewed by insiders and in the polls as the Republican front-runner in the race, has been raising money for the entire quarter and said he had topped Foley's amount.
"We did a little better than that," Simmons said Tuesday in a cellphone interview from a plane on a trip to Los Angeles. "We don't count the days. We just go out there. ... We have literally thousands of small donors. It's very gratifying in tough times to see contributions."
Simmons originally set a goal of raising $50,000 through online contributions, but he increased the goal several times and said he has raised more than $80,000 online. Each donor receives a hand-signed thank-you note, and Simmons said he has written about 1,000 in the past week.
Simmons flew out of Boston Tuesday morning for a fundraising trip to the West Coast, where he has family members and where he has raised money in the past. A former three-term member of Congress from the 2nd Congressional District in eastern Connecticut, Simmons previously served for 10 years at the state Capitol in Hartford.
Simmons has said he expects to need at least $5 million in the long race against Dodd, which could potentially include a Republican primary in August 2010. The general election is in November 2010.
Dodd's popularity has slipped dramatically in Connecticut in the past year, and the most recent two Quinnipiac University polls have shown Simmons ahead of him in the race.
Keller noted that the maximum contribution per individual is $2,400 for the primary and another $2,400 for the general election — meaning that a couple could contribute a maximum of $9,600 for the cycle. More than 100 people attended a major event for Foley's finance committee in June in Greenwich, featuring such prominent fundraisers as U.S. Ambassador Charles Glazer, who has raised money for George W. Bush and former Gov. John G. Rowland.
Caligiuri, 42, who represents Waterbury and surrounding towns, said he worked in roughly the same time frame as Foley because he was tied up with legislative business at the state Capitol.
"We raised about $125,000 during the same period," Caligiuri said Tuesday. "We didn't start meaningful fundraising until after the session ended on June 3. That's a very good number [for Foley], but not a surprising number for a Greenwich millionaire who was a top fundraiser for George W. Bush. That's how he got to be ambassador to Ireland."
Caligiuri is not only younger than his two main Republican rivals by at least 15 years, he also has far less personal wealth.
"I'm the only guy in this race who actually has a job," Caligiuri said. "Foley and Simmons are jobless."
Eric Schultz, a spokesman for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, said that the amount of money raised by the Republican candidates makes him believe that there will be a GOP primary next year.
"Clearly, there is going to be a competitive primary on the Republican side and when all that mess gets sorted out, Chris Dodd is the one working day-in and day-out for Connecticut — working closely with President Obama to get the economy back on track," he said.
Christopher Dodd is preparing for a run in 2010 for his sixth term in the U.S. Senate. But Dodd's polling numbers have been very low since several ethics questions began to surface regarding his conduct on several fronts.
So Dodd has been undertaking what appears to be an image-repairing campaign that has him back in Connecticut on an almost weekly basis, taking out television ads featuring President Obama and Ted Kennedy, and playing up his role in credit card, housing, and health care reform.
Dodd was in Middletown Monday touring Middlesex Memorial Hospital.
He was asked about his early campaigning and whether or not this was generated by low poll numbers. Dodd sidestepped the question, saying the only thing that matters is that he serve the people of Connecticut to the best of his ability. He said that right now, state residents are worried about losing their jobs, if they haven't lost them already, losing their homes, and trying to provide an education for their children. He said that's what he's focusing on -- not the 2010 elections.
This is an excerpt.
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Dodd-Ducks-Poll-Questions.html
Peter Schiff - the von Mises economist who accurately predicted everything that has happened to the economy and was laughed off the air by the know-it-alls of the MSM - is also contemplating a run for Dodds seat. wwww.schiffforsenate.com
Could make for some interesting fireworks!
Anyone But Dodd.
And anyone but Simmons.
Go Foley, Schiff, & Caligiuri.
Dodd is my Senator, there is a movement to Dump Dodd and is well organized.
The problem is Dodd is above everybody else. He is Kennedy, he is king, rises above all his messes and just exists above.
Emails go unanswered with a statement that says: Dear Friend. I am busy and I only talk to people from my State.
But I am from the State and he never gives out his calendar. You don’t know he has been some where until he is safely gone. Most of the engagements are pre-planned and pictures taken by media are full of Union workers.
It would be sublime for Schiff to replace this schmuck.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.