End of Campaign Finance Quarter Coming Up

In case you have not been inundated with requests for money, let me tell you that Sept. 30th is the end of the third quarter campaign finance reporting period. Federal candidates (president, senator, congressional representative) have to file their reports by Oct. 15th, for the July - September quarter. So candidates are beating the bushes looking for money. I went to one fundraiser this quarter and plan to drop a little money in two other buckets. If you think kindly of a candidate, this would be a good time to empty out the penny jar and contribute.

John Edwards is getting some cash out of me again. Last time it was because of that video of Joe Trippi, wearing an apron that looks very like mine (except mine shows evidence of use and his looked new), trying to bake a pie. This time around it is the campaign's variation of a popular theme going around the presidential campaigns. Earlier this summer Barack Obama had dinner with one or more campaign contributors. They more or less draw names out of a hat, from the list of people who contributed that quarter. Hillary Clinton is doing the same thing, and Bill sent around an email saying he might drop by as well. I didn't respond to either of these efforts. I could listen to Barack Obama for hours but don't have much to say to him and the idea of trying to actually eat while cameras are recording every move is daunting. Double that for the Clintons. Edwards, however, is mixing it up. They are drawing five names out of the hat and those five people will be sent to New Orleans to participate in a rebuilding project with Edwards. That's right, he's going to put the five lucky winners to work. Even better, they will have props for all the cameras. What would you rather be photographed holding, a fork or a hammer? Of course, given my poor contest karma it is a moot point. In any event, it captured my interest enough to rummage around for my credit card.