Over the last few days I've received not one, not two, but three e-mail pitches urging me to donate to Barb Mikulski's campaign for yet another re-election to her Senate seat before tomorrow's quarterly filing deadline. Yes, it appears now my best friends in the world are now Ben Cardin, Martin O'Malley, and Paul Sarbanes and they all want me to donate to Senator Barb. Some of these appeals even have a nice little picture of her asking me to "help Barbara reach her $20k goal today" in that pseudo-hip Gotham font which Organizing for America likes to use.

But that got me to thinking (and doing a little research.) After all, with $2.7 million cash on hand at the end of March 20 grand is pretty much chump change.

If Barbara Mikulski really wanted to call some of her true friends I'm sure she could get the $20,000 in a matter of minutes. Just have her call her defense contractor buddies like Boeing ($7,000 contributed this cycle) or Lockheed Martin ($5,000).

Or, she could smile and dial the nice folks at Eli Lilly ($6,000 since the start of 2009) or Merck ($7,500). While she's at it she can explain her votes on health care.

And if that's not enough, there's always AFSCME ($10,000) or the firefighters' union (also $10,000) - heck, that's her $20,000 right there. It's all right here in the FEC records, but the point is asking why she's insulting my intelligence by having this not-so-dynamic trio send me fundraising requests. Then again, being on their e-mail list makes for good "political buzz" fodder.

And each of them seems so earnest. Sarbanes is worried because she has 18 opponents in her Senate race. Unfortunately, between the rest of the Democrats running against her (and most of the Republicans as well) there's probably not enough ready cash to throw an adequate fundraiser at a swank eatery inside the Beltway. $20,000 would probably be more than any five of them will see in their campaigns.

Martin O'Malley tells me that, "(i)t might have been over a quarter-of-a-century ago, but I learned pretty quickly on that first campaign just how important the Maryland grassroots are to Senator Barb." Apparently not as important as those big-money contributors - come on over to the Eastern Shore where I live and have an open townhall meeting, Barb.

And Ben Cardin promised Barb he would help raise $20,000 by tomorrow's deadline. Ben, I already told you just who to call up above in this post, or you can follow the link for more ideas. Consider it my public service to you.

If you really want a Senator who's in touch with the people, I can't say Barbara would be the best pick. Maybe she should have taken the opportunity to retire, but the people of Maryland may have to speak and force her into taking the golden parachute of a pension she surely has after 24 years in the Senate.

At least she can't keep her campaign cash.

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