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So, you want to see McCain in Valley? Prepare to ante up
A picture with the GOP nominee is $10,000 a couple.
HOWLAND — If you want to see U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, during his June 27 visit to the area, you’re going to have to dig into your pocket.
The deeper, the better.
Unlike April 22, the last time McCain, R-Ariz., came to the area, he’s not making any public appearances during his June 27 visit.
If you only want to attend a lunch reception with the Arizona senator, it’s $1,000 per person. A “VIP reception” is $2,300 a person.
It’ll cost you and your spouse $10,000 to get a picture with the hopeful.
Want to be a chair of the event? Just pony up $50,000 for you and your spouse.
The VIP reception amount is the maximum a person can give a federal candidate for a general election, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Those same donors can contribute up to $28,500 to a national political party and $10,000 to a state party, under FEC regulations.
The June 27 McCain event is to raise money for his campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Ohio Republican Party.
When McCain campaigned April 22 in Youngstown, he acknowledged he “may not win the election” in Democratic-dominated Mahoning and Trumbull counties. But he added that he was “going to compete” in the area.
Mark Munroe, Mahoning County Republican vice chairman, said that if McCain can break the 40-percent mark in the two counties, that would mean a victory for the candidate in Ohio, considered a presidential swing state.
George W. Bush won Ohio and the presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 even though he received 36 percent and 37 percent of the vote in the Valley, respectively.
Bush, a Republican, beat Democrat Al Gore by 3.5 percent in Ohio in 2000, and Democrat John Kerry by 2.1 percent four years later. Bush campaigned only once in the Valley in 2000 and visited the area twice in 2004.
The fundraiser would be McCain’s second visit to the area this year, and he’s expected to return, said Matthew Blair, a registered Democrat who is an event chairman of the “Victory Celebration” at the Howland home of Brian and Kim Ross.
“I think he has a very, very good shot to win close to a majority” in the Valley, Blair said of McCain. “He’s running that strongly. I don’t think he’d be spending this much time in the Mahoning Valley if he didn’t think he’d be successful here.”
McCain will campaign throughout Ohio, said Paul Lindsay, a campaign spokesman.
“It’s important that he reach out to all voters, including those who supported Sen. [Hillary Rodham] Clinton,” he said. “He’ll campaign for the vote of everyone in Ohio.”
Clinton soundly defeated U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in the March primary in Ohio, including overwhelming victories in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Obama is to campaign today in Columbus, his first visit to Ohio since he captured enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.
Before the primary, Obama visited the area twice. He raised money at the Boardman home of businessman Herb Washington and had a public rally at Youngstown State University.
Mike DeWine, McCain’s Ohio campaign chairman and a former U.S. senator, said the Valley is “a very important area. John believes he can do well in the Mahoning Valley. ... He’ll go to areas that are somewhat forgotten.”
skolnick@vindy.com