I'm going to see Byron Dorgan tonight, as he does his book tour. He has over 600k cash on hand, according to open secrets, and he is not up for reelection for another 4 years.
So, I'm going to try to ask him about the "Dem's sitting on cash" issue that has popped up over the past few days. I don't want to just use the typical phone script for faceless staffers, I want to pressure him directly, so please help me figure out what to ask...
There will be a brief Q+A, and assuming I push enough little old ladies out of the way, I plan on saying something like:
"Senator Dorgan, thank you so much for coming here tonight, I hope you're enjoying your book tour. I would like to ask you a question unrelated to the book, it's a bit inside baseball, so please bare with me. We have a great opportunity to pick up a lot of seats in the House and Sentate this year, myself and a lot of friends and family have donated a lot of time and money. We've given til it hurts. However, Democratic leaders are sitting on large warchests. Unopposed House Democrats are sitting on over 20 million, nominally opposed House Dems are sitting on another 20 million. Your colleagues in the senate are sitting on gobs of money, particularly people like Senators Kerry and Clinton. According to your most recent filing, you have over 600 thousand in the bank. You and your colleagues can donate that money to party committees without restriction. I understand the need to save some cash for future races, and to help your own state party. My two part question is:
Will you be donating some portion of your cash on hand to the national democratic party committees over the next week? And will you pressure your colleagues in the house and senate to do so?"
I think that is relatively short and to the point, and is gentle enough. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.