Elizabeth Edwards coming to Portland
Kari Chisholm
John Edwards was the first presidential candidate to visit Portland - and the turnout was so huge and the reception so positive that Elizabeth Edwards is flying in now, too.
On June 26, Elizabeth will be headlining a grassroots reception for Oregonians -- just $75/person. Students are $25/person (with student ID) and young people 18 and under are free.
Space is limited. If you want to make sure to get in, be sure to RSVP at OregonForEdwards.com.
(If you're interested in donating $500 or more, there's a smaller event later that same evening. Details here.)
And, finally, here's a quick preview of Elizabeth in New Hampshire:
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10:44 a.m.
Jun 7, '07
I recognize that it's cheaper than many typical campaign events, but there's nothing "grassroots" about $75 a head.
Has anyone else seen what Obama's doing? Donate ANY amount, and you buy yourself a chance to pretend you're a fat cat by getting an audience with the man himself. Cool way to build excitement and offer a tangible (if highly limited) award for people's donations.
Wouldn't it be great if the campaign offered 100 random Oregon donors free entry to the event, or every breast cancer survivor got a pass? You want grassroots, you gotta set your mower a little closer to ground, if you know what I mean.
10:59 a.m.
Jun 7, '07
torridjoe,
Have you looked at the numbers?
Obama: Raised: $25,797,721 Spent: $6,605,200 Cash on Hand: $19,192,520
Edwards: Raised: $14,031,662 Spent: $3,299,781 Cash on Hand: $10,733,641
Source:(http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp?cycle=2008)
Obama has raised far more money. Right now, unfortunately, this is how the game works. You NEED money to win. Until campaign finance is revamped and we switch to publicly funded campaigns I am ok with Edwards looking for money. $75 really isn't that bad. I do like your last point though.
11:04 a.m.
Jun 7, '07
You know how Obama has raised more money? He has more donors. It's not that they're kicking in more money; there are simply more of them.
And $75 for a political candidate is simply out of the reach of the vast majority of Oregonians, truth about campaign finance or not. I'm in the top 20% for household income in this state, and there's no way I have that kind of money to give to John Edwards.
Jun 7, '07
It's time for us as a country to begin talking about sliding scale fees for goods and services--and political events such as the one mentioned for Edwards. Being we support a sliding wage scale (which is obviously completely out of balance at this current time), it holds that it's only fair that those who make more, pay more and those who make less, pay less.
Ah, it would be enlightening to see a political candidate hold this belief.......
Jun 7, '07
We are Obama organizers but huge Elizabeth Edward's fan. We would love to go but are retired and on fixed incomes. What about Seniors for $50 a couple or tell John to donate some haircut money to old people.
12:46 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
Don't forget that the first $50 you donate each year comes back to you as a tax refund. Also, it's worth noting that union members are in for $35, students for $25, and minors are in for free.
I'll pass along the other suggestions to the campaign, but it's worth noting that it's a fundraiser.
12:48 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
Up above, you called it a "grassroots reception for Oregonians." Call it a fundraiser and my trifling complaint goes away; use the word "grassroots" for a $75 ticket and I'm going to call it out.
12:59 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
The first time I gave money, it was hard, but MoveOn said I should, and I donated to Bradbury's attempt to unseat Smith. The next time, it was the Dean campaign, and I was inspired by the people who were brownbagging it so they could come up with $25/month. So I did too. Then I decided the Party needed my monthly contribution, so I signed up as a Grassroots Democrat.
As Barbara Roberts would put it, $75 is 25 double mocha lattes. A month of no lattes, and you get to see Elizabeth Edwards. Or buy one pair of shoes.
If people are truly on fixed incomes, students, or low-income, I know it's really difficult to come up with the money and it's not fair. But for most of us, I think it comes down to choices. And it gets a lot less painful after you've written a few checks. I finally just had to put a political item in the budget. I almost never buy clothes, but I enjoy writing checks to the party and politicians. Weird!
Politics takes money, unfortunately. It's just a fact of life, although not a very pleasant one. $75 is really pretty cheap as these things usually go. A significant portion of the cost also probably goes to rent space at the Benson. There are only three union facilities in town, and they're all expensive. Having organized a few fundraisers, I know it's painful to have to exclude people, but you can't put on a fundraiser for free, and you don't make any money if you don't charge enough.
Jun 7, '07
And to think yesterday I sent Elizabeth 50 bucks for a very ordinary recipe for Pecan Pie from Johnny's mommy. Ah well. I am impressed that they're letting anybody under 18 in for free but I'd love to know if that works any better than Hil's recent "Club 44" funder-fiasco, the one written up by Dana Milbank in the WaPo this week.
1:16 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
1) I agreed it was comparatively cheap. 2) The ILWU hall was good enough for her husband; moving to the Benson doesn't really scream "grassroots," either. 3) I agree you can't put on a fundraiser for free. Just don't call it a "grassroots reception" when only the elites can afford it (nobody on food stamps is buying 25 lattes a month, either).
1:23 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
OK, TJ, I agree. It's a low-dollar reception. How's that?
1:58 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
moving to the Benson doesn't really scream "grassroots," either.
The Benson is one of Portland's very few unionized event facilities. Last I checked, the other two are the Hilton and the Convention Center. That's it.
Kudos to the Edwards team for insisting on unionized venues.
1:59 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
Oh, and FWIW, "grassroots" was my word. Not the Edwards campaign's.
Are we done now?
2:11 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
It depends--are you sticking by it?
:)
Jun 7, '07
Kari, I am interested in the "huge" turnout you mentioned when Edwards was here as I didn't learn about it until after the fact. How many people turned out?
Jun 7, '07
Sounds like the Portland area is going to be hopin with fundraisers for Presidential candidates in June. On June 28th, there will be an Obama fundraiser ($50 a head; $20 for students). More info here
Jun 7, '07
Oops, here's the link for the June 28th Obama fundraiser:
Jun 7, '07
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4jtlc
11:53 p.m.
Jun 7, '07
Just to be clear.... The June 28 Obama fundraiser doesn't actually include Barack Obama, right?
Jun 8, '07
Correct Kari. But we can always hope!
Jun 8, '07
Kari, how many people turned out up to hear Edwards when he appeared in Portland recently?
11:40 p.m.
Jun 8, '07
I was at the recent Edwards town hall, and the room was filled to the brim. I'm not sure the count, but many people had to stand in the far back because all the seats were taken up.
1:33 a.m.
Jun 9, '07