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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (444949)	8/19/2003 1:55:57 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	Respond to of 769670

washingtonpost.com Bush Campaign Reaching Out to Bloggers By Mike Allen Tuesday, August 19, 2003; Page A03 President Bush's campaign will unveil a Web site today that allows proprietors of online journals -- Blogs or Web logs -- to "get the latest campaign headlines and inside scoop posted instantly to your site through a live news feed from GeorgeWBush.com!" Bush's campaign is leaving nothing to chance as his devotees spread his message. The automatic feeds are offered in horizontal and vertical versions. Clearly cognizant of the Web frenzy over Democrat Howard Dean, Bush's aides held a conference call to preview the site, which replaces a bare-bones one that has raised $1.3 million from 6,000 donors since the campaign launch May 16. Campaign manager Ken Mehlman said the site's purpose is "sharing the president's positions and tying them to grass-roots activities so that everyone who wants to, has something to do." The site allows a user to type in a Zip code and find local and national radio talk shows. A letter can be automatically e-mailed to newspapers, and all the supporter has to do is paste in pre-scripted text such as, "President Bush should be commended for his strong leadership on the economy." The pages are similar to ones Timothy Noah of Slate magazine stumbled across in June when the campaign left a prototype unprotected for a few hours. Noah called the environment section "hilariously skimpy." Now it includes a three-page "issue brief." In fact, the site reveals that the environment is one of Bush's top issues, along with the economy, compassion, health care, education, homeland security, national security and education. The not-so-subtle prototype section labeled "See more Hispanic photos" has been replaced by, "See more Environment photos." Visitors are invited to "forward this image to friends and family!" Experts said the Web tends to be more effective for an insurgent such as Dean than for an incumbent. But Bush's site was praised by Max Fose, Internet manager for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). "It's always pushing people to take an action," he said. "It's an unfiltered avenue to deliver the president's message." Dean's Fundraising Hedge Howard Dean, who has proved surprisingly adept at raising campaign money, appears to be having second thoughts about his pledge to participate in the nation's program for publicly financing political campaigns. The former Vermont governor told the Associated Press that although he intends to keep his pledge, he is also still willing to consider opting out of the program. "Could we change our mind? Sure," Dean said. The program, designed to lessen the importance of campaign fundraising, provides federal dollars to qualified candidates who agree to spending limits. Earlier this year, Dean said his campaign would join the program. But he has since proved a prodigious fundraiser. And Democrats have long feared that participating in the program during their primary would put their candidate at a disadvantage, since President Bush is expected to opt out. Democrats fear their candidate could emerge from the primaries, as early as March, nearly penniless and unable to match the president's unrestricted campaign efforts for months -- until they receive their general election money later that summer, after their presidential nominating convention. It was that scenario that appears to have given Dean second thoughts. "I think public financing is a good thing. The question is what do you do with an opponent who can murder you" for months, Dean said. Edwards Touts Palmetto Roots Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) expanded his television ad campaign into South Carolina yesterday, a state that is considered critical to his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The campaign consists of a trio of ads, touting his rise from humble beginnings, his plans to keep U.S. jobs from moving overseas and his long ties to the Palmetto state. Two of the spots have been running in New Hampshire and Iowa. The third features the senator sitting on the porch of a modest house he lived in as a child in Seneca, S.C. Edwards lived there until he was 10, when his parents moved, first to Georgia and, later, to North Carolina. "This was my first home. The folks I grew up with, they weren't famous and they sure weren't rich," Edwards says in the spot. "But they worked long and hard to give their kids a better life." The state hosts one of the nation's earliest presidential primaries. Edwards is the first of the nine Democratic candidates to take to the airwaves there, with what his campaign would describe only as a "substantial" buy. Political researcher Brian Faler contributed to this report.