We’re just past the end of the first quarter of the current election cycle (with seven more to go before it’s all over), but members of the Appropriations Committees in the House and the Senate have already had <a href=”http://blog.politicalpartytime.org/2009/04/23/more-than-170-parties-with-appropriators/”>more than 170 fundraisers</a>, according to my colleague Nancy Watzman.

A few thoughts: Earmark season (why do I imagine a lobbyist dressed up like Elmer Fudd?) comes early in the year–requests had to be submitted to members by April 3 in the House; for the Senate they’ll start rolling in at the end of this month. So the prime fundraising season for Appropriators (who decide which of those requests will end up in the final versions of the spending bills) may actually be in the next quarter. While Political Party Time doesn’t have a complete set of fundraiser invitations by any means, assuming the sample we do get remains consistent, it will be interesting to see if there are more fundraisers in the second three months of 2009 than the first.

That said, if there’s one constant in Washington, it’s that there’s never a bad time for a special interest seeking a favor to donate to a member of Congress…