The GOP outsources its fundraising

The Bush administration can't seem to make up its mind about the hot, swing-state topic of outsourcing. First, the White House tapped a pro-outsourcing manufacturing czar, only to change course when Democrats made an issue about the jobs-overseas policy. Now, we discover the Republican Party hired "125 agents working in seven teams soliciting financial contributions for the Republican Party" from New Delhi. That according to a recent article in the Hindustan Times and unearthed by Misleader.org. According to the news account, for 14 months, between May 16, 2002, and July 22, 2003, the GOP hired India's Shiv Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies to make the cold calls trolling for dollars. (Actually, the GOP hired the Washington-based Capital Communications Group, which then tapped New Delhi for the job.) "The mandate for the teams was to mobilize support for President George W. Bush and solicit political contributions. The voters' database was provided by the Republican National Committee (RNC), the party's premier political organization," reported the Times. The team of dialers contacted 200,000 voters in the States, with the paper concluding that, "Going by conservative estimates, at least funds worth $10 million were committed for President Bush through the [call] centers in India."