Last week, finger food and Kanye; this week, finger food and Tom DeLay. The convention parties have already kicked off in St. Paul and you can still follow intrepid party-reporter Nancy Watzman at Party Time.

Brian Ross and the ABC investigative team were in St. Paul last night and found quite a few parties happening:

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Be sure to check out Party Time, Sunlight’s project to track parties thrown at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions as well as fund raising activities by all lawmakers running for Congress that happen all year round in Washington, D.C. and beyond. By accessing the site, you can find out where the parties are, view the array of invitations that go to lobbyists, Political Action Committee (PAC) representatives and others around Washington, D.C. and beyond. You can see who is hosting these parties, how much money it costs to go, where and when the party is and what people are going to be doing there.

Nancy Watzman, Party Time’s director, is streaming live Qik videos where she will record the action as she attempts to crash some of the parties, including the Blue Dog’s invite-only party hosted by AT&T. (Pardon our initial technical difficulties…You’ll notice we are providing a different angle on the conventions.) You can also follow her Twitter feed, where she is reposting her videos. By accessing delicious, you can follow all of Party Time’s mentions in the media. You can also follow New Media coverage of the convention at the Big Tent site, named after the literal big tent where you’ll find Gabriela Schneider, Sunlight’s communications director, assisting bloggers and other journalists cover the parties.

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Today, we are launching a new Web site, Party Time, a project to track parties thrown at the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions as well as fund raising activities by all lawmakers running for Congress that happen all year round in Washington, D.C. and beyond.

The count of parties and events we’ve heard about scheduled for the Democratic and Republican National Conventions is now above 400-and counting. As we noted the other week, here, these convention parties are often sponsored by corporate interests such as Citi, Eli Lilly and Qwest, as well as powerhouse lobbying firms such as Patton Boggs. They continue despite new ethics reforms intended to rein in excesses of special interest bashes for members of Congress. Many of these party hosts are also sponsors of the conventions’ host committees, major donors to federal candidates and party committees and are also big spenders on federal lobbying.

So, for example:

AT&T is hosting more than a dozen parties at both conventions, most of them parties for different state delegations. The company is also underwriting both the Democratic and GOP Convention committees, and happens to be the #2 top donor to federal and candidates and parties since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. AT&T has spent more than $3 million on federal campaign contributions and lobbying combined in 2008 alone, 60% of which is directed to the GOP. It has also spent another $3.2 million on federal lobbying.

Qwest’s CEO, Ed Mueller, is hosting an event at the Denver Art Museum on Monday, August 25. The company is also giving the Democratic and GOP Convention host committees a total of some $12 million in direct and in-kind contributions. Qwest has given $682,000 to federal candidates and parties so far this election cycle, and spent $1.7 million on lobbying.

A long list of financial service powerhouses are sponsoring a “financial literacy brunch” at the Democratic National Convention, including Allstate, AEGON, Bank of America, Capitol One, Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Fidelity, Genworth, MasterCard, Mutual of Omaha, Nationwide, Principal Financial Group, State Farm, NASDAQ, US Bank, Visa, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. These companies are major campaign contributors and lobbying forces in Washington.

(more…)

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Don’t be fooled by the talking heads and the pundits who ceaselessly tell us that nothing interesting happens at the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions. Lobbyists wine and dine party insiders and elected officials, big donors feast with the party insiders who depend on their deep pockets, and corporations with business before the federal government pick up most of the tab.

All this happens behind the scenes, of course, but we can give you a glimpse of it, thanks to a pair of documents listing events at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St.Paul* that Sunlight unearthed as part of its about-to-be-launched Party Time project.

Compiled by a top Washington lobbying firm, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, the lists identify 370 parties, receptions, symposiums and other events sponsored by the likes of Bank of America, the Distilled Spirits Council, Eli Lilly, AT&T, and Anheuser Busch. They show that partying will continue at the conventions despite the new ethics law, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which prohibits lobbyists from throwing parties honoring specific lawmakers.

A sampling of the parties listed include:

Democratic National Convention
• An opening night party on Sunday at the Democratic National Convention by the lobbying firm Brownstein, Hyatt, where convention organizer, Steven Farber, works, at the Denver Art Museum;
• A DNC top donor reception that same night;
• A variety of events for delegates sponsored by AT&T;
• A “late nite” party at The Loft sponsored by USTelecom on Monday night;
• An “FSR Literacy” luncheon on Tuesday sponsored by a host of financial companies.

Republican National Convention
• A health care luncheon on Tuesday sponsored by Eli Lilly;
• A host of parties sponsored by AT&T, including a “Texas honky tonk,” a Young Guns” reception, and an African American voter reception and a Hispanic voter reception;
• A reception sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters;.
• Hospitality suites sponsored by Honeywell, Anheuser Busch, and Citi;
• A wrap party hosted by the lobbying firm Patton Boggs.

The lists were unearthed in the data collection for a new Sunlight project, called Party Time, headed by a veteran money-in-politics reporter and investigator, Nancy Watzman. Party Time, which will make its debut the week of August 18, compiles the thousands of invitations to congressional fundraisers that are sent out by fax, email and snail mail to lobbyists, Political Action Committee (PAC) representatives and others around Washington, D.C. and beyond. Visitors to the Web site will be able to find out about the events, often before they happen.

I should add that the lists Quinn & Gillespie compiled are not a complete list of events. Check back the week of August 18th to find out more.

*–Apologies to St. Paul and Bob Collins.

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