Bush Launches Drive To Raise $200 Million
Blitz Aims to 'Lock in the Money,' Adviser Says
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 18, 2003; Page A13
President Bush kicked off the largest political fundraising drive in history last night, previewing campaign themes for lobbyists, chief executives and upper-crust Republican faithful who paid $2,000 apiece to throng the ballroom of a Washington hotel.
Bush plans to collect $200 million for his reelection bid over the next year or so -- twice as much as the record-setting amount he raised for his first presidential race. The bulk of the money will be raised at a series of paid presidential appearances, with a first wave of 10 lunches, dinners and receptions scheduled over the next five weeks.
"There's nothing like having a few friends over for a cocktail or two," Bush said, basking in the applause. "Your support is laying the groundwork for a strong nationwide effort next year. Your support is going to help us achieve a strong nationwide victory."
The prediction was perhaps Bush's most political remark since the midterm elections, but he said in his speech that he is devoting most of his time to the war on terrorism and "getting the economy going again."
"The political season will come in its own time," he said. "Right now, this administration is focused on the people's business."
The appearances are described by White House officials as a political necessity, even though Bush faces no primary opposition and federal law prescribes that the money raised be used only through the Republican convention at the end of next summer. For the general election campaign, Bush plans to accept federal funds.
Republican officials said the campaign will use the money for television advertising that will both boost Bush's image and attack Democrats as being captive to liberal interest groups. They said the money will also be used to build a turnout organization in preparation for Election Day. The campaign's plans include a headquarters in every state, county chairmen throughout key states and millions of pieces of mail.
The fundraising blitz poses a political risk for Bush at a time when the economy has presented the nation with, as he put it in a speech in Virginia yesterday, "slow times." Unemployment hit a nine-year high in May and, although the stock market has rallied briskly in recent weeks, measures of consumer and business confidence have continued to disappoint the administration.
Many voters in the Rust Belt states, which can swing a presidential election, are worse off than when Bush took office, and a centerpiece of the Democratic strategy is to paint him as captive to corporate interests. Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster, joked that "the only people who can afford to spend $2,000 on dinner in this economy are Bush supporters."
"One of the single greatest vulnerabilities for Bush is the view of people that he's much more interested in acting on behalf of the wealthy than ordinary people," Mellman said. "This reinforces that image in dramatic fashion."
White House communications director Dan Bartlett said that, for average voters, the sporadic attention to Bush's money-raising forays will be "just background noise compared to what they see the president focused on, which is creating jobs in America."
Last night's reception raised about $3.5 million and was attended by 1,200 to 1,400 people, the campaign said.
The simple fare of hot dogs, cheeseburgers and nachos was intended to lend a casual note to an enterprise designed to speedily cement the advantage of a popular incumbent while his potential rivals in the Democratic Party struggle to be heard.
Bush gave a taste of his campaign speeches to come, promising "a society of prosperity and compassion, so that every citizen has a chance to work and succeed and realize the promise of America." Turning to risks around the world, he promised that the United States will remain "freedom's defender."
"Our work is only beginning," he said. "We have great goals worthy of this great nation."
After arriving at the hotel, Bush spent about 45 minutes posing for photographs with about 160 individuals and couples who were named "co-chairs" of the event after selling at least 10 tickets, raising $20,000.
The presidential fundraisers will continue in quick succession with a Georgia stop on Friday, and appearances in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Tampa by the end of the month. The pace is designed to produce an intimidating show by June 30, the deadline for the first federal fundraising disclosure since Bush launched his campaign last month. Officials said they expect the report to show $25 million or even more, some of it raised in small amounts through the campaign's Web site and mail solicitations.
The decision to begin raising money this early was controversial within Bush's inner circle, with some of his advisers contending that he would look less political -- and bargain more effectively with Democrats on Capitol Hill over Medicare reforms and other parts of his agenda -- if he were not officially politicking.
But a presidential adviser said the schedule was intended to "lock in the money in case the world changes," and to give Bush most of next year to raise money for House and Senate candidates after his own treasury is nearly complete.
The fundraisers are beginning during a week when Bush has scheduled a series of appearances that will use the economy as a theme, and will celebrate the effects of the tax cut passed by Congress last month. He spent yesterday morning at Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale campus, where he led a private roundtable discussion on employment training. The small panel included two students, both would-be nurses. Although Bush's address was set on a campus, the audience consisted largely of local business leaders and Republican activists and officials.
Bush used the presence of the trainees to put an optimistic face on the economy. "In this current economy, in spite of slow times, there are industries, such as health care and high-technology manufacturing, that are looking for well-trained employees," he said.
The $2,000 admission fee to last night's fundraiser did not include a chair, so supporters milled around the ballroom as they waited, noshing on the dainty cheeseburgers and visiting the open bar.
One of the attendees, Greg Butler, 45, the general counsel of Hartford, Conn.-based Northeast Utilities, said he considered the ticket price as "a form of free speech -- part of the competition in the marketplace of ideas."
Staff writer Leef Smith contributed to this report.
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