The second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives is braving the legendary East Coast snowstorm that shut down Congress this week to accompany Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, to the 10th District.

Broun and special guest Minority Whip Eric Cantor have scheduled a $250-a-head fundraiser Friday in tony Greensboro hosted by, among others, two members of the Reynolds family (of Reynolds Plantation fame) and state Sen. Johnny Grant, R-Milledgeville. For the less well-to-do, $35 will get you a ticket to see Broun and Cantor at The Spotlight Theatre. Dress is business casual, and light hors d'ouvres will be served.

Unfortunately, the events are closed to the press, and we journalists don’t contribute to political campaigns, so paying my own way is out. But if you go, let us know if anything interesting is said.

Money woes

When it comes to fundraising, Broun needs all the help he can get. According to his most recent FEC filing on Jan. 29, he’s spending cash as fast as it rolls in.

Broun’s campaign reported raising $175,000 and spending $148,000 – mostly on direct mail – in the fourth quarter of 2009. For this election cycle, he’s raised a total of $1.1 million but ended the year with only $133,000 on hand. He’s also still $245,000 in debt.

What does this all mean? In a district that was anywhere near competitive, it would mean Broun doesn’t have the war chest to fight back should a well-funded Democrat run against him. In the 10th, it doesn’t mean much – he’s pretty much a lock no matter what.

Meanwhile, the local anti-Broun Pull the Plug PAC raised a paltry $4,975 and spent all but $492 of it, which means all you PBJ haters out there aren't putting your money where your mouths are.

Catching up

An interesting article from a black publication in North Carolina dropped into my in-box yesterday. Apparently the NAACP has rated Broun the worst congressman on civil rights issues, giving him a rating of just 4 percent. Broun actually enjoys substantial support in the Athens black community, mostly due to the reputation of his father, the late state senator, and a heavy schedule of church visits. In fact, he owes his squeaker of a win in the 2007 special election largely to black turnout in a runoff that essentially amounted to a Republican primary.

On the new media front, Broun tweeted during President Barack Obama’s state of the union speech last week. He also sent out some old-fashioned press releases, but in the interests of brevity, we’ll deal with those in 140 characters or less, too: TSA nominee should withdraw. Deficit unsustainable. Spending outrageous. Budget freeze not enough. Dropped a balanced budget amendment. Keynesian economics and FDR suck.

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