GOP Takes In $33 Million At Fundraiser Dinner & Shatters Record; Sept. 11 Photo to Be Sold
Donors who give $150 or more to Republican House and Senate campaign committees get this photo of President Bush aboard Air Force One on Sept. 11. (Eric Draper - The White House)
By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 15, 2002; Page A01
Republicans shattered the record for a single political fundraiser last night by collecting $33 million at a dinner featuring President Bush, and they hoped to increase their pre-election haul by selling donors a photo of Bush calling Vice President Cheney from Air Force One on Sept. 11.
The activities are part of a Republican fundraising frenzy less than six months before the advent of a law that will bar the political parties from accepting unlimited checks. Throughout Washington yesterday, major donors received private briefings by Cabinet secretaries and top White House officials.
Republican officials said the $33 million record from last night's black-tie dinner could stand in perpetuity, because the huge takes at such events consist largely of loosely regulated "soft money," which is to be banned after the November elections under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law Bush signed in March.
"This will be the final punctuation mark on the era of soft money," a top Republican said proudly.
Republicans were quick to criticize Democrats for fundraising excesses under President Bill Clinton, including overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom for big givers. But Democrats accused Republicans yesterday of breaking a new barrier by trying to cash in on the emotions surrounding the September terrorist attacks and their aftermath.
Former vice president Al Gore, who until now has confined his criticisms of Bush to policy matters, issued a statement attacking Republicans for offering the Air Force One photograph to donors who give $150 or more to the GOP's House and Senate campaign committees.
"While most pictures are worth a thousand words, a photo that seeks to capitalize on one of the most tragic moments in our nation's history is worth only one -- disgraceful," said Gore, who suffered his own fundraising controversies in 1996. "I cannot imagine that the families of those who lost their lives on September 11th condone this -- and neither should the president of the United States."
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush was aware of the use of the photos and the criticism, and said the president did not object. "The White House was generally aware of the fact that they wanted to use pictures for fundraising purposes, and no objections were raised," Fleischer said. "The specific pictures were not run past the White House first." The photos, he said, "represent the president at work for the American people."
"What the Democrats are really saying is, once somebody is elected president, they should never be allowed to have any pictures taken of them for any purpose at any time in the course of their administration for the purposes of helping to build a Republican Party, or in the case of the Democrats, a Democratic Party," Fleischer said.
The photo is featured in a mailing promoting a June fundraising dinner for the GOP's two main congressional campaign committees. The dinner will feature Bush, Cheney and country music star Vince Gill. The Air Force One photo and two others, part of a "specially commissioned, individually numbered and matted" series titled "George W. Bush: The First Year," are a bonus for those who give at least $150. The other photos show Bush taking the oath of office and delivering his first address to Congress. Tickets for the dinner start at $2,500, but many people will give much more and it is expected to raise more than $20 million.
The mailing promoting the congressional dinner includes a three-page letter from Cheney, who says the annual event "takes on special meaning" this year as "an opportunity to honor President Bush for his courageous leadership during this historic time." An enclosed note from Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), the dinner's co-chairman, touts the photo series in a postscript. "Seating is limited," Allen warns.
Both major parties, while privately admitting they are eager to profit politically from the war on terrorism, have been reluctant to make such appeals overtly. Terence R. McAuliffe, a legendary political fundraiser who chairs the Democratic National Committee, called the sale of the photo a "grotesque . . . strategy to use the war for political gain."
The statement accused the GOP of a "potentially illegal misuse of a White House photograph," but that did not appear to be the case. The Air Force One photo was taken by White House photographer Eric Draper. The House Republican campaign committee, which is holding the dinner jointly with its Senate counterpart, said it obtained the photo commercially from Corbis.com after the White House released it to all news media.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the Republicans' House campaign committee, said he saw the fundraising appeal for the first time yesterday. "These are photos that are available on the Internet, and Republicans ought to be proud to have pictures of the president up there," Davis said. "I don't think anyone felt this was in any way exploiting 9/11."
The controversy about the Air Force One photo raged on the same day the Republican National Committee staged its annual gala at the Washington Convention Center. Democrats held the previous one-day fundraising record, for a $26.5 million barbecue in 2000.
In his remarks at the dinner, Bush saluted "our grand party" and said, "I want to thank all who made this dinner possible." He said he sees "great progress" toward his goal of a changed tone in Washington, and in his effort "to get rid of the needless name-calling that tends to go on here."
Before tucking into their balsamic-glazed tenderloins of beef, top donors were invited to breakfast with Cheney's counselor, Mary Matalin, at the St. Regis Hotel, followed by a meeting with senators and House members. About 70 were rewarded with lunch with Cheney at the Willard Inter-Continental Hotel. Other GOP high rollers heard from Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans; Education Secretary Roderick R. Paige; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman; Karl Rove, Bush's senior adviser; and White House political director Ken Mehlman.
The GOP's Presidential Gala 2002 was underwritten by 19 chairmen and co-chairmen who gave $500,000 each, including Carl H. Lindner, chairman of Chiquita Brands International and managing partner of the Cincinnati Reds; and Dwight C. Schar, chairman of NVR Inc., the McLean home-building and mortgage concern.
Corporate donors included many firms that would be affected by issues pending in Congress, including energy and pharmaceutical companies, as well as accounting firms, which face proposals for new regulation after the Enron Corp. bankruptcy.
Bankrolling the dinner were 56 vice chairmen giving $250,000 each, including American International Group Inc., ChevronTexaco Corp., El Paso Corp., Microsoft Corp., Philip Morris Cos. and Union Pacific Corp.; 49 deputy chairmen giving $100,000 each, including the American Hospital Association, AT&T Corp., Cigna Corp., Dominion Inc., Ernst & Young, First Energy Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Schering-Plough Corp. and UST Inc.; and 25 dinner committee members giving $50,000 each, including Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.
Staff writers Dan Balz, Juliet Eilperin and Al Kamen contributed to this report.
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
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