Lee Fisher Empties Campaign Account
Submitted by Anthony Fossaceca on Wed, 10/27/2010 - 3:37pm.
Senator Sherrod Brown just sent an email blast out to his list alerting us that Lee Fisher dropped $100K in ODP's lap.
Here's the letter:
Few times in the course of a rigorous, frenetic, and difficult campaign do candidates step up and do something spectacular -- and unselfish.
Lee Fisher just did.
Running against Karl Rove's rolodex and fundraising machine, and running short of cash, Lee donated his last $100,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party for its get-out-the-vote effort. That will matter not just to Lee, but to the governor, to members of Congress who are under siege, to our ability to hold onto the majority in the Ohio House of Representatives, and most importantly, to the people of Ohio for years to come.
If Lee's generosity and act of courage and statesmanship inspires you, then please click here to donate to the ODP Federal Account right now [ http://www.sherrodbrown.com/thankyouleefisher ], where the money is most needed. Or head over to Lee's Facebook page and simply thank him for stepping up like few politicians have. [ http://www.facebook.com/leefisher ]
Sherrod Brown
There's a lot of backlash
right now to Lee focusing on how little money he has, and this won't help with people still trying to decide whether to vote for him, leave the race blank, or write in Jennifer Brunner's name. It's one thing to say he's being outraised by Portman; it's another to say he is out of money. Lee Fisher asked to be our candidate — we were told he HAD to be our candidate — because Jennifer would not be able to raise enough money to compete. Therefore, Lee cannot admit he doesn't have enough money to compete without invoking a lot of fury and contempt. I think on the balance this is a very bad tactic going into Election Day, no matter how altruistically they spin it. It's going to lose him votes.
re: backlash
If this story gets big media play then perhaps there will be backlash....although it is so close to the election that it may only have a scant affect.
My bone to pick is with the "good ole boy" network in Columbus starting with Chris Redfern. Chris and his minions strong armed Jennifer Brunner right from the get go, and told her it wasn't "her time." In fact, it is not a stretch to say they were brutal in her treatment of her.
How do we fix this?
This is a serous discussion we need to have
after the election. I would like to see a group of us sit down with the folks in Columbus and really air our concerns. I understand Chris may not have been as much the guilty party in this as some other people who I certainly hope are coming to regret interfering in the primary. I wish they had stayed on the sidelines and especially discouraged the strong-arming of Jennifer's supporters with sometimes not-so-veiled threats not to donate in order to make her look like a poor fundraiser and Lee look like the fundraising champ. This is why his being out of money completely is so irritating now. He was never depicted as some novice with no fundraising contacts like, say, Justin Coussoule, who did what he could with what he had and ended up raising more money than any of John Boehner's previous opponents. Lee was presented to us as ALL about the money. I wish that all the power players involved, including the DSCC which was a majorly guilty party, had kept their fingers off the scales and let the race be run on a level playing field.
I agree this story won't make a media splash, but I think it will speak to some committed Democrats who are agonizing over this race. That's where the backlash may be.