WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- Publicity about a night at a bondage-themed club in Los Angeles led to the Republican National Committee clipping the wings of its Young Eagles program.
Gone, now that the program to attract wealthy young donors is on hold, are fundraising events at venues such as major league ballparks, a steeplechase horse track and a North Carolina paramilitary training compound, Politico reported Tuesday.
Although reimbursement of nearly $2,000 for a trip to the Voyeur club may have tanked the program, some Republicans had already wondered if the benefits of the Young Eagles' edgy fundraising venues were worth the costs, Politico said.
"Is it a good idea to get young people fired up about the party and maybe giving money to the party when they're 25 or 30?" asked John Grotta, a GOP direct-mail consultant who worked at the RNC in the 1980s and 1990s. "Yes, in theory, it is. But the devil's in the details, and throwing junkets at them is not the way to go about it. There's no way (the Young Eagles program) is even breaking even now."
The program, with its off-the-beaten path fundraising mixers, has its defenders, who say the party out of the White House must do what it can to attract young, well-heeled donors.
"We do events that a specific demographic will like so it will love us and give us money and vote for us," said David Norcross, a former RNC general counsel and now a committeeman.
"Just because a couple of mistakes have been made doesn't mean you don't want to continue being progressively forward-looking. Why should we, of all parties, do old stodgy stuff?"
