Sandwiched between the day John McCain called the economy "fundamentally strong" and the day he rushed to Washington to rescue it from "total crisis" was the day he quietly revealed how clueless he is about the financial crisis that gives the rest of us heartburn.
While Congress was asking tax payers to fork over $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, the uber-rich McCain was asking supporters to donate $2,000 to rescue his then suspended campaign.
Two thousand dollars on top of the $700 billion we're coughing up to finance the bail out.
In an email blast sent out on September 24th Vice Presidential Nominee Governor Sarah Palin wrote "Help us fight for a better future for all Americans today by making a secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or $35 to the Republican National Committee. "
Governor Palin blasted the same message four days later--the day that lawmakers manned up and rejected the bailout McCain had flown to Washington to broker.
By contrast Senator Barack Obama's September30th email blast asked supporters to donate just $5 and the Democratic Congressional Committee emailed a plea for $15-$25, price points that are much more manageable for families struggling to pay rent, buy food and afford the gas they need to drive to work or school.
Full text of Palin email below:
Dear Friend,
I know that John McCain is the right person to lead our great country forward in these challenging times. Republicans across the country and I share his vision for keeping America prosperous and secure and look forward to helping communicate that vision to the American voters.
As Governor of Alaska, I have worked hard to bring reform to politics-as-usual, fight corruption and waste, and make certain that government serves the people, not the special interests.
Our Party's entire ticket, from top to bottom, is committed to an agenda of cutting wasteful pork-barrel spending and keeping taxes low so that American families can decide how to spend more of their hard-earned money instead of bureaucrats in Washington. We must act now to increase our energy independence and ensure our economy grows strong and offers opportunity to all of our citizens.
I applaud John McCain's personal example of dedication and sacrifice to our country, and I know he has the courage and experience to make the tough decisions that will keep America strong to face the threats to our security from Islamic terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and tyrannical regimes.Like John McCain, Reform Republicans are optimistic about America's future -- and confident that we will build on our past successes to make our great country even greater.
We reject the Democrats' fearful and pessimistic mentality. When we are able to get our message past the liberal mainstream media filter - directly to the voters - the vast majority of the American people agree with our confident, optimistic view of principled, conservative government and opportunity for all.
But the Obama Democrats and their allies are set to raise over $1 billion to relentlessly flood America's airwaves with their negative and false attacks against our Republican candidates.
That's why I'm asking for your help. Please help give us the resources we need to fight back against the Democrats and their fearful tactics of doom-and-gloom. Help us fight for a better future for all Americans today by making a secure online contribution of $2,000, $1,000, $500, $100, $50 or $35 to the Republican National Committee.I am honored to have been asked by John McCain to join him at the top of the ticket in this historic presidential election -- and now I am asking you to join with me and all of our candidates as we fight for victory on November 4th.
Sincerely,
Sarah Palin
The RNC sent me another solicitation email yesterday (again asking for $2000). This time the goal was to fund voter registration. Are the Republicans running scared? Does their internal number crunching show a problem with turnout? Can they really make effective use of the money at this stage of the game?