Republicans begging for money while Boyda thanks supporters

Today's the last day of the first quarter FEC fundraing period for the good people running for federal office, and in about the last hour we've received e-mails from candidates all over the country begging for money- including Jim Ryun, who says he's only at 55% of his goal of raising $20,000 on the Internet!

Our heart goes out to him in this desperate time.

We've got nothin' new from Lynn Jenkins yet, but she did send out an e-mail last week sometime asking for little contributions ($10, $25, or $50), while Jim's e-mail pushes ya to give $2,300.

No real point, just thought it was interesting. Someone might be able to say something 'bout "small fries vs. big potatoes," but we certainly aren't sayin' it. Also, did anyone else notice in the CQ Politics article we posted earlier that when you call the Jenkins for Congress campaign the number on their web site takes you straight to her campaign manager's cell phone?

Nothing's quite as sad as running a congressional campaign out of your basement.

Nancy Boyda? She sent out an e-mail, too...but instead of begging on her knees for money, she thanked her supporters for helping her already reach her fundraising goal for the quarter.

Today is the final day of the first quarter of 2008, and you know what that means. Our campaign must soon file our quarterly FEC report, disclosing all of the contributions we've received in the last three months.

By long tradition, that means we should send you a high-pitched e-mail this morning, begging for last-minute contributions. Our opponents have already sent their panicked calls for support. One admitted to being $20,000 behind his fundraising goals; the other was $5,000 in the red.

But I have good news. Our campaign has already met our fundraising goal for the first quarter of 2008 -- and that's an enormous credit to your efforts.

You've hosted fundraisers, contributed what you can afford, and served as tireless advocates for our campaign. Thanks to your support, we're entering the second quarter of 2008 on very strong financial footing. Thank you very much!

Of course, our work is not done. A new quarter begins tomorrow, and we'll need your continuing support through Election Day. We'll need your help to share our message with voters and to stem the tide of attack ads. We've done extraordinary work so far, but we must not let up now!

So instead of seeing this e-mail as a final call for first-quarter contributions, consider it an opportunity to leap toward our second-quarter goals. Let's take this chance to show Kansans that our campaign has earned their faith and support.

If you can, please contribute $100, $50, or $25 to start the second quarter off right. Together we can repeat our tremendous success of the first quarter and carry our momentum through Election Day!

With warm thanks,

Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress

After these last ditch efforts (and thank yous for, you know, meeting goals), where will they all end up? Keep on making predictions.