Bush steps up fundraising for GOP lawmakers

Helping the newcomers
Reichert, a former sheriff who highlights his centrist credentials in this Democratic-leaning state, issued a statement on the eve of the fundraiser, welcoming Bush’s assistance but maintaining a bit of political distance.

“Although the president and I don’t agree on everything, I have great respect for the tremendous responsibility the leader of the free world must bear every day,” Reichert said. He faces former Microsoft Corp. manager Darcy Burner, who has been a proficient fundraiser despite being a political newcomer.

Bush predicted this week that Republicans will maintain majority control of the House and Senate this November despite polls showing voters favor putting Democrats in charge.

While he has stayed in Texas almost all of August during previous years of his presidency, this summer Bush plans to spend less time at his ranch and more time on the road supporting candidates in the closely contested congressional races.

Cheney, Laura Bush help out
Other famous faces at the White House also have been doing their part. Vice President Dick Cheney has appeared at 66 events that have raised $22 million, while first lady Laura Bush has become much more comfortable on the fundraising circuit after doing very little travel in 2002. She has appeared at 20 events that have raised $9.7 million.

So far this election cycle, the Bushes, Cheney and others have raised $172.5 million for the cause. By the end of June 2002 they had raised $179 million.

Some have suggested that private fundraisers have been a convenience for candidates in districts where Bush is especially unpopular — allowing them to avoid appearing with the president while raking in his money. But Reichert flew with Bush aboard Air Force One and posed grinning and waving with him in front of news cameras upon arrival in Seattle.

The pair then rode in Bush’s motorcade to the wealthy, GOP-friendly suburb of Medina, where the fundraiser was held at the home of Microsoft executive Peter Neupert. It was closed to the media. Admission to the reception was set at $1,000, and individual photographs with the president cost $10,000.

Bush’s fundraiser for Wilson was to be held in an Albuquerque hotel ballroom and open to the media. Three hundred donors were expected to pay $1,000 per ticket, and photos with Bush were going for $5,000.

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