McCain to host London fundraiser
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/03/15/art.mccaintrip.ap.jpg caption=" McCain will host a London fundraiser next week."](CNN) - During a congressional trip to the Middle East and Europe next week, John McCain will take a break from his Senate duties to host a $1,000 per plate fundraising lunch for his presidential campaign at London’s Spencer House.
The fundraiser will be held towards the end of his week-long trip, which will include visits to Iraq, Jerusalem, London and Paris with supporters and longtime friends Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Joe Lieberman. They are slated to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The three senators are members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and McCain has been adamant that presidential politics will not be discussed next week. However, aides admit that the trip will emphasize his foreign policy credentials - a pillar of his presidential platform.
“This will be one of many regular trips that I have taken over the last 20 years as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,” McCain told CNN on Tuesday. “I think that it’s very important as the ranking member that I understand and keep up to date, particularly where young Americans may be in harms way. He added, “I regret that more of my colleagues don’t spend more time in foreign travel.”
A McCain spokeswoman said that this is not the first time a presidential candidate has raised money overseas, noting that Rudy Giuliani did the same during the primary process.
The campaign insists the U.S. Treasury will be reimbursed for all expenses relating to the fundraiser, including transportation to and from the event, the hotel and McCain’s flight back to the U.S.
- CNN’s Dana Bash and Alexander Marquardt
Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Am I hearing this right McCain is over seas on fundraiser??? Is it so bad that he has to go over seas because most of the Republicans do not support him? Well regardless of who wins the Dem side I don't see money as the issue. I think the fundraiser McCain is having is a sign for what is yet to come for him, and he is in big trouble from the start.
What a JOKE this guy is. What a pure waste of tax payer money going on a good will tour with 1 Democrat and 1 Republican to make it a tax payer paid trip. He should have to pay for this trip since it is his buddies going with him. Talk about double talk, a man who wants to do away with pork barrel spending but will waste tax payer money on this. Hopefully none of these clowns get elected.
Good luck senator
I bet you Hillary wishes she could be on that plane to back up her claim of foreign experience. It's a good thing that she has not claimed to have spent time meeting and negotiating with foreign leaders without Bill.
Do you think McCain will tell diplomats in Britain and the Middle East that any of the anti-Iraq rhetoric should be taken with a grain of salt?
Now why don't we hear more about this, like for example what they will be discussing with Brown, Sarkozy, and Ehud Olmert? (There's a relatively unfamiliar name considering he's a Prime Minister). Why are we instead treated to exhaustive detail about a resigned New York Governor?
I'm a Londoner, and considering the democratic party are more right wing than our conservative party, the only people attending this will be tory old boys corporate representatives looking for something. I'd much rather have Barack over.
Well, that's one way to bring home some Euros.
Who cares if they get paid back? It's really ok with everyone if presidential candidates are receiving financial support from parties overseas?
I was'nt aware non-Americans could contribute is this Legal? I would gladly give since the White House policy's impact so much on Canada
I don't think that it is RIGHT for any USA candidate to be holding fund-raisers in foreign countries. McCain should be using ONLY money that is donated from Americans in America for our American election.
Why not raise campaign money on a Government Paid Trip? I guess that's what we call a Public Financed Campaign. Of course, if it is being done by a Politician it must be legal.
keep on travelin u re goin to loose
Isn't Sen. McCain traveling on the taxpayers' dime? Should he be holding fundraisers while he is on this important fact finding trip? Just wondering.....
Maybe they are going to thank him for the good American jobs sent their way instead of going to Boeing.
Hope he get the money in EU, will be worth much more by the time he comes home to cash it in
McCain is paying for the political portion of the trip.
Only Americans can attend the fundraiser.
Does John McCain not realize citizens of London cannot vote for him in the US Presidential election? And McCain says it okay because Giuliani did it, too. Come on, Senator McCain, give me a break.
I am currently contemplating whether I will vote for Obama (if he is the Dem nominee) or McCain in the fall. Obama is doing well fundraising in the US. Why is John McCain not also participating in similar fundraising activities in the US? I have to say, this does raise a bit of a concern for me about McCain.
Did you even read the article? McCain will reimburse every penny to the US Treasury.
Let Obama and Clinton soil on each other while McCain is lining up his strategies, getting his pieces in place, and further adding to his foreign policy experience.
Dems are in for a big surprise when their candidate is crushed by McCain. What will they do then? Who among them can compete? If Clinton and Obama are the best they can do, they won't see the White House for a long time to come.
Well the old man is now begging in foriegn countries now . I wonder how long they will listen to his sad tale again about his Viet nam experience. JOHN YOU CAME HOME ALIVE 55,000 came home in body bags or caskets , some are still not home. After arrival back home you took advantage of your personnal situation and have bled it to death for over thirty years . Grow up and go play bingo.
$1000 per plate? If he really understood the economy, he'd be asking 1000 EUROS per plate.