Hurricane or health?

There seemed to be competing reasons why a fundraiser for Senator Jim Talent and the GOP was canceled this past Monday, a fundraiser that was supposed to feature Vice President Dick Cheney stumping for Talent.

On September 13th the Post-Dispatch reported in the new “Inside” section of the Metro page that the fundraiser was cancelled because of

"the administration's desire to focus on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."

The reasoning was echoed in a September 12th Washington Post piece by Jeffrey Birnbaum about a longtime Washington lobbyist, Frederick Webber, who was trying to change his stripes in the wake of the Katrina disaster.

But not many people were following his advice. Most fundraisers went off without a hitch. One exception was a canceled lunch for Sen. James M. Talent (R-Mo.) set for Sept. 19 in St. Louis that Vice President Cheney was scheduled to attend.

On the day of the fundraiser, Post-Dispatch political reporter and columnist Jo Mannies mentioned a Roll Call story about Cheney’s health in the Post’s Political Fix blog. The story Mannies referred to, in Roll Call’s “Heard on the Hill” column (subscription only) by Mary Ann Akers, reported that the cancellations were due to Cheney’s health, not because of hurricane Katrina.

On Friday, HOH broke the story on Roll Call's Web site that Cheney is scheduled to have elective surgery next weekend to treat an aneurysm in the artery behind his right knee. Now, we have some more details for you.

Cheney also canceled a couple of GOP fundraisers, HOH learned. As one source who had just read Roll Call's online scoop on Friday said, "Now we know why."

The Vice President had been scheduled to appear at a fundraiser benefiting House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) in Houston on Friday (where tickets for a "VVIP" reception were going for $12,600), and at a fundraiser for Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) in St. Louis tonight.

The ACC contacted Senator Talent’s office regarding the discrepancy. Rich Chrismer, Talent's press secretary, affirmed that the cancellation was due to hurricane Katrina and not due to Cheney’s scheduled surgery.

“Everyone agreed we should postpone the event due to hurricane Katrina,” said Chrismer. “We look forward to rescheduling.”

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