WASHINGTON -- In anticipation of Mitt Romney's set of fundraisers in New York City on Wednesday night, the Democratic National Committee is taking some extraordinary measures to hammer home their favorite frame: that the former governor is a plutocrat in Tea Party disguise.
The DNC will be hiring a pilot to fly over the Hudson River between the George Washington Bridge and Hoboken with a 175-foot sign reading: "Bet You 10K Romney's Out of Touch - Mitts10KBet.com."
Romney is set do several fundraisers with top finance types in the city. A breakfast will be held with John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made billions betting against the bad mortgages that he hand-picked, along with John Whitehead, the former chairman of Goldman Sachs, and Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets. According to the New York Post, Romney will head to the Waldorf-Astoria for a lunch-time fundraising event hosted by J.P. Morgan Chase vice chairman Jimmy Lee. For the nightcap, Romney will visit the Park Avenue home of Steve Schwarzman, the head of Blackstone, where he will be joined by another famous hedge fund type: Paul Singer.
Needless to say, the crowd would be comfortable (financially at least) making the type of $10,000 bet that got Romney in trouble during last Saturday's GOP debate. In fact, they will likely be offering up significantly more to the former governor's campaign.
The issue of Wall Street money is, of course, a tricky one. The huge sums that President Barack Obama has raised from the financial sector have been a source of consternation for progressives and prompted accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans. But the actual amount is a subject of dispute. If you strip out the money raised by the DNC, Romney is besting Obama. And certainly packed events, like the ones slated for Wednesday, make it easier for Democrats to push the Romney-as-a-Martini-Party-member-meme.
"Today Mitt Romney's coming to New York to fundraise from some of the wealthiest Americans who, just like Romney, are probably used to making $10,000 bets on the golf course or in a corporate boardroom," said Melanie Roussell, DNC National Press Secretary.
UPDATE: And if an aerial assault wasn't enough, two progressive groups, MoveOn.org Political Action and Americans United for Change, will be staging protests outside Romney’s lunch fundraiser on Wednesday. Organizers are describing it as an effort to "show why Romney is the poster boy for the 1 percent."