If you want Ohio politicians to give you the time of day, the annual fee -- as totaled by one of the wisest of Capitol Square's magi -- is now more than $130,000.In 2008, it would have been $119,000.
That's a 9.2 percent increase over two years -- far more than the all-items Consumer Price Index, which over the past five years has climbed an average of 2.6 percent a year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
What the fundraising frenzy means is that the hidden surcharge for Ohio politics (passed on to Ohio taxpayers as anti-consumer laws, bulging utility bills and sweetheart public contracts) is going through the roof.
The fund-tracker, who prefers not to be named, is a Statehouse lawyer-lobbyist of long standing, a gentleman of the old school -- i.e., a member of an endangered species. He saves every single fundraising invitation he gets. He also keeps track of the price of the cheapest single ticket to each of those events. Then he runs a total.
For the year that ended Jan. 31, the total cost of one ticket to each event would have been $130,388. For the comparable 2007-08 period, the tab would have been $118,880.
"Maybe the politicians don't know we are in hard economic times, or maybe it's an inflation factor," he wrote me.
He's correct on both counts.
First, some officeholders don't know how the rest of Ohio lives. You don't see hard times in Columbus bars and bistros; you see high times, and people (generally, men) telling each other how great they are. And most officeholders get top-shelf health insurance, courtesy of taxpayers, and will collect cushy, guaranteed pensions. (Health insurance is "socialism" only when you don't want someone else to have it.)
Second, inflation is a factor, though it's maybe not so much "price inflation" as "threat inflation." Obviously, political campaigns cost lots of money, especially for TV ads. But this is also key: A "mine's bigger than yours" campaign fund can spook potential challengers.
So the collection basket gets passed. For instance, the Republican Senate Campaign Committee in Ohio, according to Gongwer News Service, plans an April fundraiser. If you'd like to be a "gold sponsor," that'll be $5,000. Silver ($2,500) and bronze ($1,000) sponsorships are also available. And for $500, well, they'll let you in the door.
Meanwhile, term limits have touched off "everyone for her- or himself" fundraising. So first-termers from Anytown, Ohio, hold fundraisers at such swank sites as the Athletic Club of Columbus, or the Capital Club, in the headquarters building of Huntington Bancshares.
Few if any attendees of these long-range frolics -- held by Democrats and Republicans alike -- will be from that legislator's hometown. But woe to the lobbyist who doesn't at least send a check.
Democrats' dicey prospects up the tempo -- and the ante. Democrats run the House 53-46; Republicans could win it back. And Democrats run the Apportionment Board 3-2.
The Apportionment Board will redraw General Assembly districts in 2011 to suit the party that runs the board. For Democrats to keep running the board, at least two of these three Democrats -- Gov. Ted Strickland, state auditor candidate David Pepper, secretary of state candidate Maryellen O'Shaughnessy -- must win this fall.
Polls show Strickland's GOP challenger, former U.S. Rep. John R. Kasich, in the lead. And pending a Republican primary, the GOP's likely auditor candidate (Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney David Yost) and secretary of state candidate (Dayton-area state Sen. Jon Husted) are formidable.
That's why Ohio Republicans are pawing at the starting gate -- and both Ohio Republicans and Ohio Democrats are foraging for donations like hogs rooting for truffles.