by Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin
Published on 12/11/2006
The Examiner
Yeas and Nays
Only in Washington: You go to a birthday party and a political event breaks out. Or is it the other way around?
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, celebrated her 54th birthday with Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., and a few dozen supporters of John McCain for president on Thursday night at the home of lobbyist Carter Pate, who’s heading McCain’s efforts in Virginia.
Davis and McCain both gave their pitch for the senator from Arizona to the well-heeled crowd, although no money changed hands.
“We were trying to see how much support is out there,” said an official familiar with the event. “We came away pretty excited about the level of commitment.”
In the crowd: lobbyists, real estate developers, Roll Call’s Mort Kondracke and Shane Green, who just sold his tech company, The Map Network, to NAVTEQ. (Welcome to the big time, young man. Time to pony up.)
In addition, 50 local CEOs have committed to McCain’s effort, said our pro-McCain source.
