With Congress out of session and under pressure to show his fundraising prowess, Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., is offering “30 minute one on ones starting at 9:30 a.m.” at the Capitol Hill Club next week. In exchange, PAC representatives and individuals are asked to contribute $1,000 and $500, according to this invitation.

Courting donors with the prospect of one on one attention is rare, when compared to the other invitations Party Time receives. At weeknight fundraisers when Congress is in session, time is often scarce, with lawmakers attending to evening votes at the Capitol and donors juggling multiple events.

Not facing a serious election challenge, Stearns seems to be spending his time fundraising at a time when he and two other Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee are vying to become chairman if the Democrats lose a majority in the House.

One important factor is how much each lawmaker has given to the party, an area where Stearns has been lacking, The Hill reported. This year he has given $520,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, less than the $700,000 donated by the favorite for the top spot – Fred Upton, R-Mich., according to the newspaper.

At an event last month — a “High-Definition 3-D TV Reception and Dinner” at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association – Stearns presented Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, with a $300,000 check, but Boehner seemed unimpressed, The Hill reported:

Boehner shot back with a tongue-in-cheek reply questioning whether additional contributions were on the way shortly.

“The joke is that it’s a down payment for everything he’s owed for the past 20 years,” said a senior Republican House aide.

Several Republicans who attended the dinner saw that as a lighthearted way to reference a feeling that Stearns has not given enough to Republicans during his more than two decades on Capitol Hill.

Stearns’ ranking membership on the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet is highlighted on the Oct. 29 invitation. At nearly $150,000 this election cycle, donations to the Ocala lawmaker from the communications and electronics industry far eclipse all others, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Over at Politico, Ken Vogel reports on the Red Sox fever that’s sweeping the congressional fundraising circuit next week, taking off from our own Josh Heath’s post here.

Vogel found some events that aren’t in our database, including parties for: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA).

And he digs up some interesting stats on how much politicians are paying for all those ball game tickets:

As well as the unique fundraising event works for baseball-loving pols and access-craving lobbyists, who were barred by post-Abramoff reforms from treating lawmakers to games, it works even better for the woebegone Nationals, who have had trouble selling seats at the glistening new stadium that opened last year.

Since the Nationals moved to Washington in 2005, politicians and PACs have paid $259,000 for Nationals tickets, according to Federal Election Commission records.

That’s more than double the $107,000 paid to the next most politically popular team: the New York Yankees. The team that previously held the closest-to-Capitol Hill advantage, the Baltimore Orioles, received $95,000 from federal committees, while the Red Sox pulled in $69,000 at their Fenway Park home in Boston.

Since 2005, federal candidates and committees have spent $718,000 overall for tickets to Major League Baseball games or to rent ballpark facilities, primarily for fundraisers, according to FEC records.

When the Boston Red Sox come to Washington on June 23rd for a friendly interleague series with the Nationals, a half dozen members hailing from the Northeast will be trying to cash in with fundraisers. And another four lawmakers hailing from states as far away as Florida and California are also taking their donors out to the ball game. (Click here to see list.)

Red Sox fans are sure to show up in droves to watch Kevin Youkilis knock one out of Nationals Park, and Reps. John Larson (D-CT), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Jim Langevin (D-RI), and John Tierney (D-MA), all are all getting in on the game.

Larson is offering a grand slam for his donors. His idea is simple; a $5,000 check made out to “Larson for Congress” will not only pick up donors two tickets to game two, it will land them in the President’s Club for a batting practice viewing.

Reps. Steven Kagen (D-WI), Wally Herger (R-CA), Cliff Stearns (R-FL), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are also eager to head to the park. Kagen has raised cash at baseball games before (see this invitation from May 2008); now he’s asking for $5,000 to net a buyer four tickets to game three of the upcoming series. Herger’s fundraiser will be his second at Nationals Park for the month of June. Schiff refers to his festivities as an evening “of hot dogs and homeruns” during the three game series. Stearns is raising cash for his leadership PAC, known as “The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism Fund.”

Legislators who missed out on tickets needn’t worry. They can follow Rep. John Tierney’s (MA-6) example and host pre-game celebrations well in advance of the actual series; he still asks for $5,000 for a “host,” and $2,500 from PACs.