We would like to think that our political campaigns are all about issues and policy and a candidate’s qualifications to hold office. But the truth of the matter is that they are about money. Raise enough money and you can blanket the airwaves with your message; reaching more voters in 30 seconds than you could ever hope to reach shaking hands and kissing babies. Raise enough money to run those ads over and over and over again and you can swamp your opponent. The candidate that wins the fund raising race goes a long way toward winning the political race as well.
And nobody raises money like John Boehner. That’s right; Speaker John Boehner is a fund raising machine.
According to Boehner’s hometown newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, Boehner single handedly raised $46 million dollars for Republican candidates in 2011 and expects to raise at least that much in 2012. Boehner headlined or hosted more than 100 fund raisers in 2011. He pulled in more than $12 million through his Boehner for Speaker Committee and another $21 million at fundraisers for individual lawmakers or the Republican National Committee. “We have never had any speaker in the Republican Party who has been as integrated into the fundraising needs as John Boehner” said Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Want to know why Boehner was elected to the Speakership by is caucus? It’s because he is responsible for helping many of them win their seats. They may criticize the effectiveness of his leadership but they will never turn their backs on the mountain of money that he pours into their coffers.
Like it or not; money talks in politics. And John Boehner is the golden goose of the Republican Party.
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