At one time a picture with you and George Bush would have cost $25,000. When it came time to decide whether to buy that new car or to hang something obscene above your fireplace, a serious family meeting had to take place. Well things are looking good for Republican families these days, because the White House is having a sale. That very same picture is now 80 percent off!
From Newsweek:
Gas prices may be up, but there's something that's apparently a little cheaper these days: A photo with President Bush. Yesterday, Bush headlined a fundraiser for the New Jersey state GOP, where donors could pay $5,000 to pose for a photo with the Commander in Chief. Expensive photo op, right? Well, that's actually cheaper that what donors paid just a year ago for a grip and grin with Bush. Last summer, GOP officials around the country charged at least $10,000 a pop for presidential photo op, a bargain compared to the $25,000-a-flash Bush commanded during some Republican National Committee fund-raisers back in 2000 and 2004. Maybe it's just a Jersey thing. Although Bush's poll numbers are low nationally, the president is particularly unpopular in New Jersey, where his approval rating is just 25 percent according to one recent poll. In fact, Bush hadn't campaigned in the state since 2005. Last summer, the GOP relied instead on other administration emissaries like Karl Rove, Vice President Dick Cheney and former President George H.W. Bush. They all campaigned for Tom Kean Jr., who ran for (and ultimately lost) New Jersey's U.S. Senate seat. For the record, a photo with Rove cost donors $1,000, while pictures with Cheney and Bush's dad were priced at $5,000. But that's peanuts. In June 2006, donors at a Kean fundraiser paid $10,000 a piece for a photo op with First Lady Laura Bush. At least President Bush can feel good about one thing: Wednesday's event took in about $675,000 for New Jersey Republicans, not a bad haul in a state where most people would rather get a souvenir pic of the president walking out the door.
I don't think that is a New Jersey thing, its an economic thing. Supply and demand comes into play here because as the amount of people that can stand taking a picture with The Decider dwindles, the product ultimately becomes cheaper. I thought Republicans were supposed to understand these things. Oh wait, they completely screwed up the nation's economy in the last six years or so....nevermind.
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