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April 16, 2007

Why Rove Flopped in Portland

Karl Rove was in town to speak at a Republican fundraiser over the weekend, but despite all the hubbub and publicity leading up to the event, it turned out to be a bomb. Tickets cost only $60, but turnout was sparse and the group probably only raised in the neighborhood of $6,000. Thom Hartmann this morning reported that he counted a mere 109 people, not counting press and security guards. The Times reported that 150 showed up, along with a couple dozen protesters. The Oregonian was more generous, saying 200 attended and 50 stood outside protesting. But no matter how you count heads, it seems nobody wanted to pay to see Bush's Brain.

Some have expressed surprise that Rove came here at all, considering he is "probably the second most reviled member of the Bush Administration" (Vice President Cheney begin the first). But popularity doesn't seem to have ever hampered these guys' fundraising efforts before. For example, back in 2004 Cheney visited Portland and attracted 350 people at $1,000 a ticket. Last year, Rove spoke to a Texas crowd and managed to draw 300 people to an August event with ticket prices starting at $200 per person, raising a total of $250,000. He raised $60,000 at an event for the New Hampshire state GOP that month, as well. In fact, during the 18 months prior to and including those August fundraisers, Rove spoke at 70 events and raised $9.6 million, making him one of the leading GOP fundraisers. So what happened in Portland this weekend?

To hear Democrats talk about the Republican Party, you would think right-wingers would be flocking in droves to support their party, but Democrats would predict these things more accurately if they actually heeded their own stereotyping of Republicans. For many years now, I've been impressed by how impressed Democrats seem to be with the Republican Party's organizational machine – and by how little their awe is deserved. Democrats are far better organized at the grassroots level. Unlike Democrats, who have both wealthy contributors and masses of grassroots people who will turn out for an event if they can afford it, Republicans have big contributors and astroturf (fake grassroots) groups. Their real grassroots don't get involved (except for the Christians, which is why they are used by people like Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, and Howard Rich). If you don't believe me, just look at what happens to turnout at Republican fundraising events when they are designed to attract ordinary people and the ticket prices are affordable.

Posted by Becky at April 16, 2007 11:30 AM