Begala calls Republican donors ‘dirtbags’

Republicans are saying Democratic strategist Paul Begala went “over the line” when, in a fundraising appeal, he called the attendees of a GOP fundraiser “dirtbags.”

Begala, who worked for Bill Clinton in the White House, discussed the annual Republican President’s Dinner in an e-mail to supporters that seeks to raise funds for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

{mosads}“You should have seen the joint: wall to wall fat-cats. The limos were lined up around the block. If you’d stood in the middle of the ballroom and yelled, ‘Hey dirtbag!’ a thousand necks would have snapped around,” Begala wrote.

The strategist also referred to the GOP as the “Grand Oil Party.”

Republicans cried foul over the e-mail, saying it was “over the line,” and hit back at Begala and the Democrats.

“You would think that, after years of loyally serving Bill Clinton, that Paul Begala would be able to identify a real dirtbag when he saw one,” said National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Ken Spain. The group co-sponsored the dinner with its Senate counterpart.

“One day Democrats are bashing special interest money on the campaign trail in the name of ‘change’ and the next day they are lining their pockets with it,” Spain added. “No wonder they have resorted to using old-style Clintonian political attacks to drive this hypocritical message.” When contacted by The Hill, Begala did not mince words in defense of his rhetoric, calling the GOP “wimpy, whiny wussies.”

“The Bush Republicans questioned the courage of a hero like Max Cleland. They besmirched the war heroism of John Kerry. They smeared Bill Clinton, savaged Hillary, attacked Sen. Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Howard Dean,” he said. “But when I call their fat-cat funders 'dirtbags,' they cry like babies. They are wimpy, whiny wussies.”

He added, “They are going to take their beating and like it, because this Democrat believes in fighting back.”

Doug Thornell, a spokesman for the DCCC, said, “It is understandable that House Republicans would be embarrassed about their lavish celebration of George Bush’s record of high gas prices and their coziness to Big Oil special interests, but facts are facts. Clearly, the truth hurts.”