Remember Sen. Abel Maldonado's speech last month at the Republican National Convention? Well, you ought to - because it cost $28.62 for every glowing word.
The Monterey County Republican Party paid $15,000 to wordsmith Landon Parvin to craft Maldonado's partisan prose, according campaign reports filed last week.
Parvin is a veteran speechwriter who has composed addresses for everyone from former President Ronald Reagan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"The Monterey County party chair was excited he was going to go and speak at the convention and recommended Mr. Parvin," said Maldonado spokesman Brandon Gesicki.
From the the looks of the party's campaign filing, the chair more than recommended - he paid for the speech on Maldonado's behalf.
Let's hope Parvin didn't actually watch Maldonado's delivery. The Santa Maria state senator forgot to spit out his chewing gum before hitting the stage.
It was the second speech to the Republican National Convention that Maldonado has given. Back in 2000, he delivered a speech entirely in Spanish (which he wrote himself, Gesicki said).
Both speeches centered on the story of Maldonado's immigrant father.
"Obviously they coordinated," said Gesicki. "Mr. Parvin and Abel together wrote the speech together."
Read and watch Maldonado's speech.
Photo: Maldonado at a 2006 press conference. Credit: Paul Kitagaki Jr., Sacramento Bee
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