I didn't realize that so many Republicans were anti-American these days.
;<)
I wonder if Bush can handle getting the nomination unopposed with only $200 million in his war chest (according to several news reports I have seen).
Bush Begins Fund-Raising for Re-Election
Wed Jun 18, 9:29 AM ET
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Headlining the first event of his 2004 campaign for re-election, President Bush (news - web sites) set in motion a two-week, cross-country fund-raising push that advisers expect will bring in as much as all nine Democratic presidential candidates collected in this year's first three months.
"Your support is going to help us achieve a strong nationwide victory," Bush said Tuesday night at a $3.5 million reception attended by about 1,400 lawyers, lobbyists and others.
The campaign's premier event at a Washington hotel — held nearly 17 months before the election — will be followed by more fund-raising Friday at a hotel near Atlanta; next week in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles; and the week after in Miami and Tampa, Fla. The White House announced that late-July fund-raisers would be held in Dallas, Houston and Detroit, and a senior administration official said more events are likely for August.
Bush's aggressive collecting of money is needed to counter "the nine Democrats who spend all of their time saying negative things about the president," spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said, a reference to the Democratic contenders for Bush's job.
Tuesday's guests donated $2,000 apiece — as did plenty more who didn't show up for the hot dogs, hamburgers and nachos.
"It's the best $2,000 hamburger I ever had!" trilled Robin Angle, a consultant from Washington-based Capital Partnership.
One of the co-chairmen for Tuesday's event was Mitchell Delk, a lobbyist for Freddie Mac, the huge government-sponsored mortgage-market company beset by accounting problems and now under investigation by the Justice Department (news - web sites) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites).
Freddie Mac spokesman Douglas Robinson said Delk was acting as a private citizen rather than as a company official. Robinson said Delk would not attend the reception because Freddie Mac officials needed to focus on managing the company. And as Bush listed the night's co-chairmen, he didn't mention Delk.
During a 90-minute stay at the hotel, Bush presented his case for voters to continue with his leadership "in these challenging times," touting achievements in the war on terror, tax cuts, education reform, trade legislation and homeland security.
"On issue after issue, we acted on principle, we kept our word and we made progress for the American people," Bush said.
He also promised to fight for freedom and against poverty around the world, to eliminate threats to Americans' safety and to work for priorities from a crackdown on medical malpractice suits to Medicare reform to a broad energy agenda.
"We seek to lift whole nations by spreading freedom. And at home, we seek to lift up lives by spreading opportunity to every corner, to every person of this great country," Bush said. "This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome it."
Democratic National Committee (news - web sites) Chairman Terry McAuliffe called Bush's stewardship of the economy "disastrous" — arguing that the president's two major tax cuts primarily benefit the rich.
"The tax bill is turning out to be quite a payday for the Bush administration, as the millions saved by the super rich will go directly out of their pockets and into the pockets of the GOP," McAuliffe said.
Bush political operatives are hoping that the campaign's first seven events — crammed into the two weeks left before the deadline for federal campaign finance disclosures — will pull in at least $20 million, the administration official said.
The nine Democratic presidential hopefuls together raised a total of $25 million from January to March, the latest figures available.
By the end of the primary election season next year, the Bush camp is aiming to take in as much as $170 million — nearly twice the record $100 million he collected during the 2000 primaries, said campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish. Some Republicans have predicted the amount would reach more than $200 million.
The Bush campaign's fund-raising actually started last month, through the mail, e-mail and its Web site as soon as Bush-Cheney '04 Inc. was launched with the filing of paperwork. Bush chose the low-key approach to declaring his intention to seek a second term over a fanfare-filled, in-person announcement.
Seeking to portray Bush as remaining above the political fray even as campaign events got under way, Fleischer called Bush's fund-raising activities mere preparations for the election, rather than overt political activity.
Other members of the Bush team are pitching in as well. Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) is headlining fund-raisers on June 23 in Richmond, Va., and the Boston area, and on June 30 in Ohio and Grand Rapids, Mich. Laura Bush is to attend Bush-Cheney fund-raisers Friday in Chattanooga, Tenn., and June 25 in Philadelphia and Cincinnati. |
