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Tuesday May 13th 2025

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Campaign Fund-Raiser Gives Money Away


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Party guests find the fun in funds

Guests at a fund-raising party at the Flagstaff House last Friday night were surprised when the Polis For Congress campaign began giving them money, rather than asking them for it. Congressman Jared Polis, Democrat from the Second Colorado Congressional District, said that he decided shortly after the party began that giving away money to his supporters would build much more enthusiasm among them than requesting it from them. So he sent his campaign manager Andy Shultheiss to his penthouse condo unit in downtown Boulder with directions to bring back a stack of $20 bills. Shultheiss estimated that he distributed $10, 000 to $11,000 before the party ended, with a few guests receiving as much as $500 a piece.

“I’ve always tried to be forward-thinking,” Polis said. “Let’s face it, the Tea Party has made major inroads among the voters in the past year, and this may be a powerful, new tool for energizing the Democratic Party base. I’ve never seen so much excitement at any of my previous fundraisers.”

Former Boulder City Council Member Dan Corson, who attended the event, said he hoped that the Polis fund-raiser would set the pattern for the future and was looking forward to participating in more of them. “Udall, Bennett, Perlmutter—they are all really going to have to scramble to catch up with Jared,” Corson commented. Corson declined to disclose how much money he had pocketed at the party, fearing his wife might find out about it.

Polis campaign staff members were vague about how they are going to report the money they gave away at the party to the Federal Election Finance Commission. One of them, who demanded anonymity, remarked, “After the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, it really doesn’t matter anyway.”


Editor’s note: This post originally appeared in the April Fools Edition of the Blue Line (4/1/2011).


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