Bush Wraps Up '03 Campaign Fund Raising
By Jennifer Loven
The Associated Press
Friday, December 12, 2003; 5:21 AM
McLEAN, Va. - President Bush headlined his last campaign fund-raiser of 2003 on Thursday, rounding out seven months of hectic travel that has brought at least $112 million into his record-setting re-election account.
Since the mid-May launch of his bid for a second term, the president has appeared at 44 fund-raising events around the country. Thursday's luncheon, in a Republican stronghold just outside of Washington, drew over 600 people who added $1 million to the coffers.
The $112 million figure dwarfs the entire Democratic field - and Bush's own record from 2000. And it doesn't include a sizable amount of donations from the mail, Internet and other sources in the year's final quarter that will be revealed when year-end reports are prepared,
Four years ago, Bush raised $106 million for the entire primary season, which extends into the new year. And then, unlike this year, Bush had a Republican opponent to battle.
As for the nine Democrats competing for the chance to run against Bush next fall, they had raised $93 million altogether through Sept. 30, the latest figures available. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, the fund-raising leader in the Democratic pack, had pulled in $25.4 million by the end of last quarter.
The president isn't the only star attraction at GOP campaign events.
Vice President Dick Cheney has traveled to 32 presidential campaign fund-raisers this year, plus events for many other candidates. And Cheney is the headliner for the campaign's final two events of the year - in Jackson, Miss., on Friday and in Pawling, N.Y., on Saturday.
Adding in appearances by first lady Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, the president's father, sister, Doro Koch, and others brings the total number of Bush-Cheney events of 2003 to 110, according to the campaign.
Behind the scenes, Bush political advisers have been closely watching the jockeying in the Democratic camp, waiting for it to produce a clear front-runner as they mull when to start spending - particularly on television advertisements - the war chest they have been building.
But Bush, as he always does at these events, told his guests Thursday that "politics is going to come in its own time," implying he is not yet directly engaged in his re-election campaign.
Still, his speech was designed to showcase the administration's accomplishments and make a compelling argument for voters to give the president a second term.
"There's too much needless politics, endless backbiting, constant posturing," he said at the fund-raiser. "See, the best way to deal in that kind of environment - or with that environment - is to elevate the discourse and to focus on the people's business by delivering. And that's what we have done."
Bush also incorporated into his stump speech a spirited mention of how the new Medicare law he signed on Monday proves his ability to deliver.
"This week we completed the greatest advance in health care coverage for America's seniors since the founding of Medicare," he said.
For the standard $2,000 contribution, the GOP donors got an elegant sit-down meal with fancy dishes like goat cheese, Mediterranean roasted chicken, dill-crusted tilapia, tiramisu and cheesecake. Most Bush-Cheney events this year have featured simple buffet fare, sometimes without even chairs to sit on.
Outside the hotel, in front of an inflatable replica of the White House, a clutch of protesters demonstrated in the windy cold against Bush's environmental agenda.
"In exchange for millions in campaign cash, the Bush administration has rewarded its rainmakers with environmentally destructive policies," said Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch, one of the groups that organized the protest.
© 2003 The Associated Press |
