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Patriot Games
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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/4/10/212146.shtml?s=lh
Bush Raking in Campaign Cash for GOP
John Mercurio Wednesday, April 11, 2007
President Bush may be hitting all time lows in approval polls and he may be
the target of a nasty opposition Congress - but you wouldn't know it from
his fundraising success.
While most lame duck presidents in the autumn of their second term are
thinking about foreign travel junkets and their presidential libraries, Bush
has remained a potent fundraiser in chief.
Republican officials running the party's campaign committees, which are
struggling to reclaim Capitol Hill majorities that collapsed last November
under the weight of Bush's low approval ratings, say the president remains a
top draw within a wide circle of GOP donors. Both he and the ever-popular
first lady are expected to headline several off-year fundraising events this
spring, summer, and beyond.
"As long as his popularity remains relatively strong among Republicans, he
still remains a formidable fundraiser and would be an asset for national
parties and state parties and for individual candidates," Frank Donatelli, a
veteran GOP operative, who served as Ronald Reagan's political director,
told NewsMax.
Longtime observers say Bush has been even more aggressive than Reagan - or
Bill Clinton, for that matter - at raising money for his party. "This White
House, and President Bush in particular, has been spectacular at helping
candidates at all levels of the party, in ways that even Clinton in his best
days didn't do," Ron Kaufman, a Washington lobbyist and former President
Bush's political director, who has been advising former Massachusetts Gov.
Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, said recently. "They're doing much
more than their fair share."
The president has already gotten started in the 2008 money chase: On Feb.
26, Bush helped raise $10.4 million at the ornate National Building Museum
in Washington for his old friends at the Republican Governors Association,
where he joked that his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was busy
enjoying retirement on the sunny beaches of Florida. For the RGA, however,
Bush's appearance was no laughing matter; as it competes with a crowded
field of Republicans raising funds for presidential bids, the RGA
desperately needs money to devote to gubernatorial races this year in
Kentucky and Louisiana and, next year, in Indiana and Missouri.
Bush also headlined a glitzy fundraising dinner March 2 in Louisville, Ky.,
for his political field general, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., a potential 2008 target of Democrats, and the National Republican
Senatorial Committee. The Kentucky event brought in more than $2 million for
the beleaguered Senate committee, which faces an uphill battle to reclaim
the Senate while defending 21 seats next year. (Democrats, meanwhile, are
defending just 12.)
On March 15, he raised more than $6.2 million in Washington at an annual
gala for House Republicans' campaign committee, where he vowed to help make
Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, "the next speaker of the House of
Representatives." And on June 13, Bush is scheduled to headline the annual
President's Dinner, a massive fundraising event for both congressional
campaign committees, which should rake in more than $30 million for House
and Senate Republicans.
"We've got a list of campaign requests for him, the first lady and the vice
president, and we have every indication they'll all be active. He's been a
tremendous asset to all the Republican committees," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.,
chairman of the House GOP campaign committee, told NewsMax recently.
And just this week, on Wednesday, Bush traveled to Los Angeles to headline
an event for the Republican National Committee.
Still not convinced of Bush's ongoing strength on the fundraising trail?
Consider these numbers, first reported by the Los Angeles Times: Shortly
after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush's approval rating
climbed to 90 percent in a Gallup Poll, and it remained higher than 60
percent throughout the 2002 election cycle. In 2001 and 2002, Bush raised a
total of $192 million for Republican candidates, according to the Republican
National Committee. By contrast, Bush's approval rating hovered near 38
percent in a Gallup Poll last fall. But his fundraising numbers were
unchanged: During the two years leading up to the 2006 election, he raised
$194 million, the party reported. In short, while his popularity sank, his
ability to raise money for his party remained as strong as ever.
The phenomenon is hardly unique to the sitting president. Even as his
national popularity plummeted during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, former
President Bill Clinton raised more than $70 million for Democrats in the
1998 campaign cycle and remained a fundraising machine during the 2000
campaign to succeed him. Reagan, whose own approval ratings sank during the
final two years of his second term, still proved to be a strikingly
effective fundraising for Republicans.
The reason is simple: Despite national polls that put his approval somewhere
in the low- to mid-30s, party strategists say, Bush is still popular with
roughly three-quarters of the GOP's most loyal activists, and many of them
are still opening their wallets to elected officials and candidates.
In a recent NewsMax interview, Kaufman said Bush still has strong numbers
among the GOP's base and the majority of money he's raising money is
generated from people who care a great deal about Bush and the party. "In
the end, if you're a Republican running for office in 2008, George W. Bush
is going to be your president. You can't hide from that, and if you do try
to hide from that, you lose," Kaufman said. "If you're smart, you take the
good with the bad. As long as you are what you are, you might as well get
the plus that goes with that."
Wayne Berman, a Washington lobbyist and Bush pioneer who is backing McCain,
said another reason for Bush's lingering effectiveness in the fundraising
world has been his natural skills as a campaigner.
"He's is a very engaging person on the stump. He's funny; he's interesting.
He's still one of the best at working a room," Berman said. "Donors know
they'll get a handshake, a slap on the back, maybe even a nickname. He
remembers the last time he saw them, and the last time someone mentioned
them to him. It's exciting for people to have that kind of intimate
interaction with the president, even for 20 seconds while someone's snapping
a photograph.
In some ways, Bush is even better, he added, than Reagan. "People didn't
have that kind of interaction with Reagan. He was a master communicator, but
he didn't remember everyone's name or their background. He was a
substantially better speaker, but that wasn't his particular strength."
Bush's low approval ratings have, of course, made him an effective
fundraising tool for Democrats as well. Democratic candidates routinely
highlight GOP candidates' ties to Bush as a way to motivate their base of
donors. But Cole said the GOP's loss of power last November has raised
Bush's appeal to potential donors. "He's seen as the defender of Republican
ideals against a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House," he said. "Our
people turn on C-SPAN and see the president getting attacked every day, and
it makes [donors] much more appreciative of things he's accomplished."
Still, as effective as Bush is, there's an even more potent GOP fundraiser
on the scene. "Honestly, if I'm helping a candidate run for Senate,
Congress, or governor, and the [Republican National Committee] asks me who
we want to raise money for us, I'm always gonna say we want George Bush,"
Berman said. "Unless, of course, I can get Laura."
Bush Raking in Campaign Cash for GOP
John Mercurio Wednesday, April 11, 2007
President Bush may be hitting all time lows in approval polls and he may be
the target of a nasty opposition Congress - but you wouldn't know it from
his fundraising success.
While most lame duck presidents in the autumn of their second term are
thinking about foreign travel junkets and their presidential libraries, Bush
has remained a potent fundraiser in chief.
Republican officials running the party's campaign committees, which are
struggling to reclaim Capitol Hill majorities that collapsed last November
under the weight of Bush's low approval ratings, say the president remains a
top draw within a wide circle of GOP donors. Both he and the ever-popular
first lady are expected to headline several off-year fundraising events this
spring, summer, and beyond.
"As long as his popularity remains relatively strong among Republicans, he
still remains a formidable fundraiser and would be an asset for national
parties and state parties and for individual candidates," Frank Donatelli, a
veteran GOP operative, who served as Ronald Reagan's political director,
told NewsMax.
Longtime observers say Bush has been even more aggressive than Reagan - or
Bill Clinton, for that matter - at raising money for his party. "This White
House, and President Bush in particular, has been spectacular at helping
candidates at all levels of the party, in ways that even Clinton in his best
days didn't do," Ron Kaufman, a Washington lobbyist and former President
Bush's political director, who has been advising former Massachusetts Gov.
Mitt Romney's 2008 presidential campaign, said recently. "They're doing much
more than their fair share."
The president has already gotten started in the 2008 money chase: On Feb.
26, Bush helped raise $10.4 million at the ornate National Building Museum
in Washington for his old friends at the Republican Governors Association,
where he joked that his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was busy
enjoying retirement on the sunny beaches of Florida. For the RGA, however,
Bush's appearance was no laughing matter; as it competes with a crowded
field of Republicans raising funds for presidential bids, the RGA
desperately needs money to devote to gubernatorial races this year in
Kentucky and Louisiana and, next year, in Indiana and Missouri.
Bush also headlined a glitzy fundraising dinner March 2 in Louisville, Ky.,
for his political field general, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., a potential 2008 target of Democrats, and the National Republican
Senatorial Committee. The Kentucky event brought in more than $2 million for
the beleaguered Senate committee, which faces an uphill battle to reclaim
the Senate while defending 21 seats next year. (Democrats, meanwhile, are
defending just 12.)
On March 15, he raised more than $6.2 million in Washington at an annual
gala for House Republicans' campaign committee, where he vowed to help make
Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, "the next speaker of the House of
Representatives." And on June 13, Bush is scheduled to headline the annual
President's Dinner, a massive fundraising event for both congressional
campaign committees, which should rake in more than $30 million for House
and Senate Republicans.
"We've got a list of campaign requests for him, the first lady and the vice
president, and we have every indication they'll all be active. He's been a
tremendous asset to all the Republican committees," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.,
chairman of the House GOP campaign committee, told NewsMax recently.
And just this week, on Wednesday, Bush traveled to Los Angeles to headline
an event for the Republican National Committee.
Still not convinced of Bush's ongoing strength on the fundraising trail?
Consider these numbers, first reported by the Los Angeles Times: Shortly
after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush's approval rating
climbed to 90 percent in a Gallup Poll, and it remained higher than 60
percent throughout the 2002 election cycle. In 2001 and 2002, Bush raised a
total of $192 million for Republican candidates, according to the Republican
National Committee. By contrast, Bush's approval rating hovered near 38
percent in a Gallup Poll last fall. But his fundraising numbers were
unchanged: During the two years leading up to the 2006 election, he raised
$194 million, the party reported. In short, while his popularity sank, his
ability to raise money for his party remained as strong as ever.
The phenomenon is hardly unique to the sitting president. Even as his
national popularity plummeted during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, former
President Bill Clinton raised more than $70 million for Democrats in the
1998 campaign cycle and remained a fundraising machine during the 2000
campaign to succeed him. Reagan, whose own approval ratings sank during the
final two years of his second term, still proved to be a strikingly
effective fundraising for Republicans.
The reason is simple: Despite national polls that put his approval somewhere
in the low- to mid-30s, party strategists say, Bush is still popular with
roughly three-quarters of the GOP's most loyal activists, and many of them
are still opening their wallets to elected officials and candidates.
In a recent NewsMax interview, Kaufman said Bush still has strong numbers
among the GOP's base and the majority of money he's raising money is
generated from people who care a great deal about Bush and the party. "In
the end, if you're a Republican running for office in 2008, George W. Bush
is going to be your president. You can't hide from that, and if you do try
to hide from that, you lose," Kaufman said. "If you're smart, you take the
good with the bad. As long as you are what you are, you might as well get
the plus that goes with that."
Wayne Berman, a Washington lobbyist and Bush pioneer who is backing McCain,
said another reason for Bush's lingering effectiveness in the fundraising
world has been his natural skills as a campaigner.
"He's is a very engaging person on the stump. He's funny; he's interesting.
He's still one of the best at working a room," Berman said. "Donors know
they'll get a handshake, a slap on the back, maybe even a nickname. He
remembers the last time he saw them, and the last time someone mentioned
them to him. It's exciting for people to have that kind of intimate
interaction with the president, even for 20 seconds while someone's snapping
a photograph.
In some ways, Bush is even better, he added, than Reagan. "People didn't
have that kind of interaction with Reagan. He was a master communicator, but
he didn't remember everyone's name or their background. He was a
substantially better speaker, but that wasn't his particular strength."
Bush's low approval ratings have, of course, made him an effective
fundraising tool for Democrats as well. Democratic candidates routinely
highlight GOP candidates' ties to Bush as a way to motivate their base of
donors. But Cole said the GOP's loss of power last November has raised
Bush's appeal to potential donors. "He's seen as the defender of Republican
ideals against a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House," he said. "Our
people turn on C-SPAN and see the president getting attacked every day, and
it makes [donors] much more appreciative of things he's accomplished."
Still, as effective as Bush is, there's an even more potent GOP fundraiser
on the scene. "Honestly, if I'm helping a candidate run for Senate,
Congress, or governor, and the [Republican National Committee] asks me who
we want to raise money for us, I'm always gonna say we want George Bush,"
Berman said. "Unless, of course, I can get Laura."
