Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (4111)	8/16/2003 11:50:45 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Bush Visits Calif. Base, Raises Money President Avoids Talking About Recall By Amy Goldstein Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, August 15, 2003; Page A06 SAN DIEGO, Aug. 14 -- President Bush traveled to Southern California today to talk up the U.S. military and to make another of the fundraising appearances that are a staple of his August itinerary. Arriving here as the state is convulsed by a gubernatorial recall election, Bush made no reference to local politics in a midday speech that focused largely on the military operations he ordered in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he made only the barest illusion to the crowded governor's race at a fundraiser here this evening. Defense messages and imagery have been one of the White House's favorite -- and most politically useful -- themes as the 2004 election season draws nearer. Polls suggest that, even as anti-American sentiment surges in Iraq and U.S. soldiers lose their lives each week, Americans are substantially more supportive of Bush's handling of the Iraqi war than the domestic economy. Today's speech at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, an installation that was famous for training Top Gun fighters and still has 3,000 of its personnel in Iraq, marked at least the ninth time this year that Bush has spoken at a military base or before a military audience. In keeping with the stagecraft that has typified such appearances, the president walked between rows of parked F-16 and Harrier fighter jets to reach the podium today. With the base's Hangar 4 in front on him and two bleachers crowded with uniformed Marines and Navy personnel behind him, Bush declared, "I am proud to be commander in chief of such a fabulous group of men and women who wear our uniform." He covered little new ground, other than to praise the arrest today of a fugitive Indonesian suspected of being al Qaeda's operational chief in Southeast Asia. Bush called Ridvan bin Isomuddin, also known as Hambali, "one of the world's most lethal terrorists." His speech at Miramar was thick with praise for what he called "a broad and unrelenting campaign against the global terror network," his administration's centerpiece for nearly two years. Still, he acknowledged, "parts of Iraq are still dangerous because freedom still has enemies inside of Iraq." Bush did not acknowledge the controversy surrounding whether he and senior aides misled the public last winter about evidence of whether the Iraqi government that the United States has deposed was amassing ingredients for nuclear or chemical weapons. Instead, he predicted that "the illegal weapons hidden by the former regime will be found." And he said, "thanks to our military, Saddam Hussein will never threaten anybody with a weapon of mass destruction." His speech, followed by lunch with about 200 Marines and sailors, was the first stop on a two-day swing through Southern California. This evening, he attended a $2,000-per-person fundraiser at the San Diego Convention Center that was anticipated to draw an audience of about 500 and raise about $1 million, a campaign spokeswoman said. It was his second fundraiser this week and it be followed by one Friday in Irvine that the campaign predicted would generate about the same amount of money. Bush raised a total of $5.2 million at two previous California fundraisers -- in San Francisco and Los Angeles -- on a single day in late June. Vice President Cheney already has held a half-dozen fundraisers for the campaign this month. Bush's silence on the volatile topic of the California governorship sharply contrasted with actions a year ago, the last time he interrupted a summer vacation at his Crawford, Tex., ranch to attend a political event in Southern California. On that trip, he appeared on behalf of Bill Simon, the GOP gubernatorial candidate who narrowly lost November's election to Gov. Gray Davis (D) -- an appearance that was delicate because Simon was mired at the time in an ethics controversy. Simon is one of 135 candidates seeking to replace Davis through the recall. A Simon spokesman said this week that the candidate was campaigning in Northern California today and would not attend Bush's fundraiser. White House press secretary Scott McClellan said that he did not expect any of the gubernatorial contenders to appear at either of the president's fundraisers during this trip. © 2003 The Washington Post Company