Santorum Fundraiser at U2 Concert

A Newsmax article that many bloggers are linking to states that: "At a concert of the legendary rock group U2, Senator Rick Santorum will hold a fund-raising event for one night only. The thousand-dollar-a-seat fund-raiser has been put together by Sean and Ana Wolfington, and it will take place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia in support of Santorum's reelection."

The article then goes on to state that Republican Senator Santorum and Bono share spiritual values, and implies that the two men have struck up some kind of political alliance. I don't know about the shared spiritual values part, but the two men definitely haven't struck up a political alliance. The Santorum campaign is holding a fundraiser at a U2 concert, but this is being done without U2's cooperation or blessing. The Santorum campaign is simply booking an executive suite at a U2 concert, to which they're inviting big contributors. U2 can't stop anyone from booking a room at the arena or buying a ticket.

In a New York Daily News article we find this explanation: Hillary [Clinton]'s camp isn't the first to book a Bono box. Her nemesis in the Senate, Pennsylvania's Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, had the same idea. But he's only getting $1,000 a head for U2's show in Philadelphia on Sunday. U2 was so irked by being linked to fund-raisers - particularly media reports that mistakenly said the band was working with Santorum - that their publicist sent out a release yesterday swearing off any connections. "Throughout the U2 tour, politicians from both sides have been organizing fund-raisers at the venues or around specific shows," the statement said. "The U2 concerts are categorically not fund-raisers for any politician - they are rock concerts for U2 fans."

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