White House defends use of 9/11 photo Fundraising images anger Democrats
By Richard Benedetto
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON -- A political flap flared Tuesday over a Republican fundraising letter that Democrats said was exploiting the tragedy of Sept. 11.
A May 1 letter from the GOP Senate and House campaign committees offers donors of $150 or more a ''limited edition'' set of three photos, one of which shows President Bush phoning Vice President Cheney from Air Force One hours after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The letter says the pictures show ''the gritty determination of our new president'' at his inauguration, in the Sept. 11 call and in his State of the Union speech to Congress in January.
Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore called the solicitation ''disgraceful.'' Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, called for the GOP to give the proceeds to charity.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer defended use of the photos of the president ''doing his job.'' He said Bush was aware of the solicitation in advance and did not object.
The Sept. 11 photo was taken by a White House photographer and released to the news media.
Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe said using the photo was ''nothing short of grotesque'' and demanded a halt to its use.
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Steve Schmidt said there is no reason to retract the solicitation.
''Democrats are having a very difficult time accepting the popularity of this president, and as we get closer and closer to the elections, they are lashing out with increasing frequency,'' Schmidt said.
Brookings Institution political scholar Stephen Hess said political use of wartime imagery by presidents of both parties is ''how we play the political game.''
''All presidents are politicians,'' Hess said. ''They take credit for what goes right on their watch and get blamed for what goes wrong. Franklin Roosevelt opened his 1944 campaign for re-election during World War II from the deck of a destroyer.''
The flap over the letter, which also asks $2,500 for a ticket to a June 19 dinner with Bush, came as the Republican National Committee anticipated raising about $30 million at a presidential gala Tuesday night in Washington.
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