WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush's popularity has tanked - but he can still bring in the cash.
The political fundraiser in chief has raked in close to a billion dollars during his White House tenure.
In all, Bush has personally raised more than $968 million for the Republican Party, its candidates and his own re-election campaign and inauguration during his two terms in office. And he's not finished.
He's now lost a big part of the national spotlight to presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, but he remains a formidable force on the fundraising circuit, mostly at private affairs closed to the media. His total so far this year is roughly $70 million.
Bush spent 90 minutes recently at a California winery tucked in a hillside in Napa Valley to help wring $850,000 from deep-pocket donors. That's $9,444 a minute.
Out of political expedience, McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, is generally keeping his distance - at least physically - from an unpopular incumbent who's burdened with war, soaring fuel prices and a sputtering economy.
Bush embraced McCain as the party's next standard bearer in the Rose Garden in March, saying, "I can help raise him money, and if he wants my pretty face standing by his side at one of these rallies, I'd be glad to show up."
Since then, the only time they have been seen together in public was after a fundraiser on May 27 in Phoenix. The two men shook hands on the airport tarmac and smiled and waved at reporters before Bush boarded Air Force One. The goodbye lasted less than a minute.
These days the White House is being careful not to step on McCain's message or schedule back-to-back events in the same city. Bush advisers aren't saying - and might not know - whether the two will appear again together between now and Election Day........
No comments:
Post a Comment