| Ted Mann at The Day was able to get a look at Rob Simmons' just-filed 2Q FEC filing (still unavailable online), and uncovered some real gems.
First of all, that $750k topline number? It includes a $20,000 loan to the campaign from Simmons himself, plus $112,000 in unpaid debts - about 15% of his total take - for "direct mail and postage". If you subtract the latter number from his cash on hand total, you get something like $448k, much closer to Tom Foley's number which he banked in only 26 days. (Edited: apologies for attempting early-morning math.) Which surely explains why he hasn't paid off those debts yet.
Secondly, Tribune Co. and Courant owner Sam Zell contributed to Simmons. Something to keep in mind as we follow the Courant's coverage of the upcoming GOP primary.
Finally, Mann notes Simmons' connections to the very financial lobbyist interests he attacks Dodd for having connections with:
Simmons, meanwhile, took in more than $730,000 over the second quarter, including plenty of individual contributions from some executives at firms connected to the financial services industry. Among those contributors are L. George Rieger, an investment strategist at Greenwich Investment Management, Lawrence M. Clark, an analyst at New York-based Harbinger Capital Partners, financier Mark R. Shenkman, and Jonathan Bush, the director of J. Bush and Co. and brother of President George H. W. Bush.
Hilariously, Simmons' allies at the NRSC actually sent out an email to their lobbyist donors yesterday, "assuring them that the folks there appreciate the job they are doing," according to the Sunlight Foundation.
That's right. The GOP is trying to buck up those poor neglected lobbyists and convince them that Rob Simmons will show them more respect that Chris Dodd. Here's the actual text of their love letter:
For what it is worth, we believe you are doing your job, a job that is very much a part of the democratic process; to make sure Congress understands how proposed policy will affect their constituents, business and other interests around our country. I guess Chris Dodd just wants your financial support but not your company.
Here's what prompted the NRSC's response, a Dodd campaign page where you can "send a message to lobbyists to let them know how bad you feel that Chris Dodd is fighting for our interests in the Senate instead of theirs":
Seems like it's already working like a charm. |
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