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Bush Still Flexing His Fundraising Muscle

The Washington Post

Published: July 6, 2008

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - After less than an hour visiting a housing assistance agency, President Bush and his motorcade sped to a private home here last Tuesday to make a quick appearance - and deliver a whole lot of money - for the Republican Party.

It was his second fundraiser of the day. Four hours earlier, Bush was 260 miles away in Jackson, Miss., speaking at a private luncheon to raise money for the election of newly appointed Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. The total from the two events: more than $1 million.

His popularity rating in national polls is dismally low, and the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, is doing his best to avoid him, but Bush remains a formidable force on the GOP fundraising circuit during his final months in office.

He has already clocked 31 political events this year, raising nearly $70 million for GOP candidates and the national and state parties, according to the Republican National Committee. The tally puts the president on track to meet or exceed the amount he raised before the midterm elections in 2006, according to GOP officials.

To look at it another way: Since the start of 2007, Bush alone is responsible for raising more money than the entire Democratic National Committee.

"This president still has fundraising muscle," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report. "Despite the economy, the war and the Republican brand problem, his numbers among Republicans are still very good. ... He's still the commander in chief, with the top political job in the country."

But Bush's fundraising prowess is not without its limits, in large part because of his stubbornly low approval ratings.

All but four of Bush's fundraising events this year have been closed dinners or held behind the tall fences and manicured gardens of wealthy private homes, such as the ones in Jackson and Little Rock.

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