In a move that would have been hard to imagine in previous years, the GOP has launched multiple fundraising efforts in the wake of the failed attack on Flight 253, seeking to turn the Christmas Day event into not just a political attack on the Obama administration, but also a boost for their year-end fundraising.
⢠The first fundraising play was done by Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), who is running for governor, and sent out this e-mail for his gubernatorial campaign: “My promise to you, as your governor, my first duty and most solemn responsibility is to keep Michigan safe! … If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign.”
⢠The NRSC sent out a fundraising e-mail signed by NRSC Executive Director Rob Jesmer: “Remember right after the inauguration, it was revealed President Obama no longer wanted to acknowledge the ‘global war on terror’ and referred to terrorist acts as ‘man-made disasters’? Back then you and I knew that showed a remarkable lack of understanding of the threat America faced but in the face of what nearly happened a couple days, it is even more infuriating. To you and me and our friends throughout America, the healthcare bill is a man-made disaster. And when a foreigner tries to blow up an airliner, it is an attempted terrorist attack.”
⢠House Minority Leader John Boehner also sent out an NRCC fundraising letter that discussed the topic of terrorism, promising that donations would go towards preventing the transfer of Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the United States, by financing candidates who would “prevent the Obama Administration from importing dangerous terrorists into American communities.” This was done on the same day as a separate Boehner press release blasting the Obama administration, tying the Flight 253 attack to Obama’s terrorism policies.
Just imagine if the Democrats had sent out fundraising letters after the shoe-bomber case in December 2001. It’s not hard to think of what the Bush administration and Fox News crowd would have said.
