Opinion: Chris Dodd wants to take you out to the ballgame
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We recently took note of Chris Dodd’s low-bore, last-minute effort to boost his third-quarter fundraising total: asking supporters if they could spare a measly 23 bucks.
It later became clear that he needed every dollar he could find to fuel his struggling Democratic presidential bid: Dodd reported just $1.5 million in contributions, a figure not only far less than the daunting amounts gathered by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but well short of the $4 million he raised in the year’s first quarter and the $3-million-plus he garnered during the second.
We’ve got to give the Connecticut senator credit, though --- as he continues to troll for dough, he’s keeping in mind that he needs to be creative and isn’t exactly in a position to overreach. Thus, his latest ploy: For a check of at least $20.04, a contributor gets the chance to be picked to join him at sixth game of the American League Championship Series between Dodd’s beloved Boston Red Sox and the pesky Cleveland Indians.
‘I’ve got two extra seats -- great seats ... And I believe they have your name on them,’ Dodd says in his fundraising plea.
Why the $20.04 minimum?
Dodd says it commemorates ‘the last time the Red Sox won the World Series, 2004.’ (Interesting phrasing there; most sports fans recognize that 2004 also was the first time the Red Sox had claimed the title since 1918.)
What happens if Dodd’s team doesn’t need a Game Six to dispatch the Indians in the best-of-seven faceoff?
Says the Dodd letter: ‘Then we’ll be sitting together for Game Two of the World Series in Fenway Park!’
Final question: And if, perchance, it’s the Indians who advance?
The campaign has that contingency covered as well: ‘You and your guest are invited to spend a day on the presidential campaign trail with Senator Dodd in Iowa or New Hampshire. We will fly you to Iowa or New Hampshire (if necessary) and put you up for a night.’
We can only assume this fallback position is designed to ensure that all those who enter the contest passionately root for the Red Sox.
By the way, for anyone concerned that as autumn progresses, a night ballgame in Boston could be a bit chilly, Republican John McCain’s campaign has got just the answer --- as well as a way to promote bipartisanship. In a new fundraising appeal, his camp is peddling a fleece --- complete with the candidate’s name --- for a contribution of $200 or more.
-- Don Frederick