Owens' "six ten-thousandths" help to Spitzer/Paterson

The National Republican Congressional Committee released a new ad Thursday that suggested, among other things, that Bill Owens' "financial backing helped put the Spitzer-Paterson administration in office."

I expressed my complete lack of knowledge on this alleged donation yesterday.

But the NRCC pointed me to Spitzer/Paterson's January 2006 periodic report, where, sure enough, there's a William Owens of Plattsburgh listed on page 57.

I checked with the Democratic congressional candidate's campaign, and yep, that's him. Mr. Owens gave $250 on Nov. 30, 2005.

So, now my question to you all:

Did $250 help put the Spitzer-Paterson administration in office?

Technically, it's impossible to determine.

But, to keep things in their proper context, the Spitzer/Paterson team raised $8.4 million in that reporting period alone, on their way to raising $41.396 million overall.

In other words, $250 is six ten-thousandths percent of what Spitzer/Paterson raised during their tenure together.