Winning Rush bidder also gave money to Obama campaign Jason Rhyne

Published: Friday October 19, 2007



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Print This Email This The winner of an online auction organized by conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh ponied up $2,100,100 for charity today in order to acquire the original copy of a complaint letter from Senate Democrats -- but the reportedly loyal Limbaugh listener also has a sweet spot for Barack Obama. According to the donation search engine NewsMeat, top bidder Betty Casey, a noted Washington D.C.-area philanthropist, has given a total of $4,600 dollars to Sen. Obama's presidential campaign, the maximum amount allowed by law. Other donations noted, however, are for Republicans, including several sizable gifts to the Republican Senatorial Committee. Casey's prize today is an Oct. 2 letter co-signed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and 40 other Democratic senators in which the lawmakers blasted what they viewed as Limbaugh's use of the phrase "phony soldiers" to condemn soldiers critical of the war in Iraq. It will be delivered in a Haliburton brief case and accompanied by an autographed photograph of Limbaugh. The letter was originally intended for the CEO of the Clear Channel Corporation, which broadcasts Limbaugh's program, and demanded an apology for the host's remarks. But Limbaugh acquired the letter and posted it on the popular auction site eBay this week. The entirety of Casey's bid will benefit the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a scholarship assistance program for the children of Marine and Federal law enforcement personnel who are killed in the line of duty. The amount of the winning bid has reportedly set the record for a charity donation on eBay, bringing more than double that of the former title-holding item, a Jay Leno motorcycle. Additionally, Limbaugh has pledged to match the amount, which would bring the total donation to more than $4 million. Casey, a leading supporter of the Washington National Opera and an array of other charitable causes, is the widow of Eugene B. Casey, a former farm policy advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt. The bidding history of the auction shows that Casey came over the top of two other bidders -- who pushed the top amount offered from $850,000 to $2,000,000 over the course of a day. The auction has already drawn the attention of Sen. Harry Reid, who commented from the Senate floor today the eBay sale had "very, very constructively" left the money to charity, and that although he and Limbaugh "don't agree on everything in life," that he applauded the effort. "Never did we think that this letter would bring money of this nature," Reid said. "A letter written by Democratic Senators complaining about something." A campaign spokesman for Sen. Obama did not immediately respond to a RAW STORY request for comment.

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