Bush Aids Republicans Under Threat

President Bush waves to reporters after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, Sept. 25, 2006, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Evan Vucci - AP)

About 65 people attended the Connecticut event at the mansion on Long Island Sound. The money was raised to help Republican candidates, but mostly to help GOP Reps. Christopher Shays, Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons. The three are top targets for Democrats trying to gain the 15 seats needed to take control of the House.

Incumbent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. The Republican in the race, former Derby mayor Alan Schlesinger, has been drawing less than 5 percent in the polls and was not invited to Monday's fundraiser.

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell was invited but did not attend, citing a previous commitment. It's the second time since becoming governor in 2004 that Rell, who remains popular in the polls, skipped a visit from Bush.

Snow, meanwhile, suggested the White House was staying out of a flap over whether former President Clinton did enough as president to try to kill or capture Osama bin Laden.

In a combative interview on "Fox News Sunday," Clinton defended his handling of the threat posed by bin Laden, and said he tried to have bin Laden killed but was attacked for his efforts by "all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now."

"President Clinton really had strong feelings about this. We're not going to engage," Snow told reporters.

The presidential spokesman also criticized news reports based on a government-produced intelligence assessment suggesting the war in Iraq had worsened the terrorism threat by helping to create a new generation of Islamic radicals.

"The report is not limited to Iraq," Snow said of the still-classified report. He said "a variety of factors in addition to Iraq" had fueled the spread of terrorist activity.