The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has decided to use the Republican “shadow convention” presence as a fundraising opportunity. In my inbox from Paul Begala:

Dear James,

You just knew it was going to happen. And in a way I can’t blame them.

If I were a Republican I’d be trying to crash our party as well.

Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, John Boehner – a motley crew of Bush-Cheney Republicans who have shown up here in Denver. And I don’t think they came just for the Rocky Mountain air.

Can you really blame them? While we’re all here to celebrate Barack Obama’s plans to write the next great chapter for America in the 21st Century, those guys will be stuck next week at their convention having to celebrate the Bush-Cheney record and John McCain’s plan to continue it for another eight years. Which party would you rather be at?

They hope to raise a cool $1 million to compensate for these uninvited Republican guests.