.....a great money machine.....
The classic case, although there's other examples, was that of Richard Nixon circa 1965-1967, after the elections of 1964, in which Republicans got trounced.
Nixon had been in the political wilderness after his loss in the gubernatorial race in California in 1962, and retired to practice law in New York City.
But after the elections of 1964, he began going around, speaking and raising funds on behalf of any potential Republican candidate for office during the mid-term elections of 1966. No candidate was too obscure, no office too lowly, for Nixon to allow himself to be used for attention and fund-raising.....just so the candidate had an (R) after the name.
He boosted conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans, liberal Republicans.
Anybody who asked him.
Historians generally credit Nixon for the Republican resurgence of 1966.
The Republican presidential nomination in 1968 was no sure thing, and in some ways a close run thing, but what put Nixon over the top were all of these senators, congressmen, governors, state legislators, county sheriffs, &c., &c., &c. whom he had helped, who returned the favor.