FORT WORTH -- Vice President Joe Biden will be in downtown Cowtown on Tuesday, attending a pair of fundraisers that could net around $100,000 for President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
Biden has been traveling around the country recently, collecting campaign contributions in cities such as San Francisco, Pasadena, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio, hoping to help restock the war chest for what is expected to be one of the most costly presidential campaigns.His fundraising tour now brings him to Fort Worth, where he will attend two private fundraising luncheons -- one for $250 per person and a second for $5,000 per person or $7,500 per couple. The first is scheduled to start around lunchtime Tuesday at the downtown Hilton Hotel; the second will follow. No public event is expected during this visit."We are really looking forward to the vice president's visit," Tarrant County Democratic Chairman Steve Maxwell said. "It underlines the importance of Tarrant County in the upcoming elections."And it's providing a real boost to our Democratic Party enthusiasm that we've seen building over the last few months."The Obama campaign, coordinating with some Tarrant County Democrats, is organizing the event at the historic building once known as the Texas Hotel, the place where in 1963 President John F. Kennedy spent his last night alive.Texans have already been contributing to the president's campaign, having given more than $2.3 million to Obama during the first three quarters of 2011, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics. On Tuesday, Biden is expected to fly into Fort Worth for the two events, which could last several hours, then leave for another fundraiser, believed to be in Texarkana, according to sources close to the event who are not authorized to talk publicly about the visit.Organizers hope as many as 200 people will attend the first lunch. They believe that around a dozen will attend the second, more exclusive gathering. If they hit their target numbers, the two events could add at least $100,000 to Obama's presidential campaign coffers.Among those expected to attend are Maxwell; former Tarrant County Democratic Chairman Art Brender and his wife, Lynda; Fort Worth attorney Jason Smith; Tarrant County Constable Sergio De Leon; and two Democratic congressional candidates, state Rep. Marc Veasey and Fort Worth Councilwoman Kathleen Hicks.Biden has made several visits to North Texas in recent years, including attending a staffer's wedding in 2010, the NCAA FCS football championship game in Frisco last year and various fundraisers in and around Dallas, but he has not been seen publicly in Fort Worth at least since becoming vice president in 2009. Obama's last appearance in Fort Worth was a campaign rally Feb. 28, 2008, at the Fort Worth Convention Center."Obviously this is a feather in the cap of Fort Worth," said Jim Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. "Anytime you have a national politician coming to your town, it's a good thing."Right now, as Republican presidential candidates fight to determine who will be the party's nominee, Democrats are trying to raise as much money as possible for the presidential campaign."The longer a contentious Republican nomination fight can take place, the better for the Democrats," Riddlesperger said. "That's where the attention is now, and both Obama and Biden are trying to stay under the radar."Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsleyHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
