The Republican Governors' Association raised a record $10.6 million at an annual gala last night in Washington, giving the only GOP campaign committee with a leg up on its Democratic rival a bigger boost. The event is also certain to boost the vice presidential prospects of -- or at least buzz around -- the lead organizer, someone who has already been proposed as John McCain's potential running mate.

Though Republicans own just 22 governorships, down from a peak of more than 30 during the 1990s, the haul is impressive, and much more than other recent Republican single events in Washington have raised. The RGA already had a cash lead over Democrats, hauling in more than $21.5 million last year and banking $9.2 million. The Democratic Governors' Association reported raising more than $12 million in 2007, with $7.2 million remaining on hand.

Any politician who can raise in one night almost half what the committee raised in an entire year is going to be noticed. But dinner chairman Mark Sanford, South Carolina's governor, might bring something more to his party than just money: Sanford, who endorsed McCain in 2000 as a congressman but stayed neutral in this year's contests, has been rumored as a potential number two on the McCain-led ticket.

Choosing Sanford could be a very popular move for McCain among his own base. Popular among Washington conservative groups around whom McCain has been a pariah, Sanford would bring a record on domestic issues, matters that are frequently seen as a McCain weakness. Both Sanford and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, rumored to be another top McCain choice, appeared this weekend on Fox News Sunday to show off their television skills.

President Bush headlined the gala, offering the 1,400 people crammed into the National Building Museum an upbeat assessment of his party's chances next year, including that Republicans would hold the White House. The event came at the end of a weekend of meetings among the nation's governors, eleven of whom face voters this year.