In a Raucous Political Year, a Little Low-Key Fundraising

By Dan Eggen
Monday, October 27, 2008

P resident Bush ended his political fundraising season last week with a closed-door, $1 million event for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

It was a typical event for the unpopular president, who in better days was renowned for his ability to rally crowds -- and raise boatloads of money -- among the Republican faithful. Even in the fall of 2006, when his poll numbers were already sliding, Bush spent the last weeks of the campaign season barnstorming around the country on behalf of GOP candidates.

This year, Bush has remained almost invisible as the Republican figurehead, primarily attending smallish and closed fundraisers in safe GOP areas. His final tally for the year is just over $80 million raised for the Republican candidates, which is about 35 percent less than he raised in 2006. (The two-year-cycle numbers aren't much better: less than $150 million this time vs. about $190 million combined in 2005 and 2006.)

Bush did not host a single public rally for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who hasn't been seen alongside Bush since a quickie handshake in May. The Arizona senator has also taken to sharply disparaging Bush in recent weeks as he attempts to catch up to Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

What a change from March, when Bush and McCain appeared at the White House to celebrate McCain's clinching of the Republican nomination.

"I hope that he will campaign for me as much as is keeping with his busy schedule," McCain said then. "I'll be pleased to have him with me both from raising money and the much needed finances for the campaign, and addressing the challenging issues that face this country."

Bush seemed to acknowledge that such an effort was unlikely, however. "If my showing up and endorsing him helps him, or if I'm against him and it helps him -- either way, I want him to win," Bush said to laughter from the press corps.

The White House hasn't talked much about the topic since and has tried to shrug off McCain's increasingly harsh criticism. (In what has to be a watershed moment in presidential politics, one McCain spokesman over the weekend tried to turn the tables by accusing Obama of being too close to Bush -- and not in a good way.)

The president has stood by McCain anyway, casting a mail-in Texas ballot for him on Friday. As for Bush's lighter fundraising schedule, the public line from the White House is that he's just been too busy.

"The president will do anything needed to help Republicans win up and down the ticket," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "This fall, because of the hurricanes and the financial crisis we've had to cancel many of his political activities."

Criticism From Abroad

With Bush serving as everybody's punching bag in the United States, perhaps it's no surprise that he's facing blows from conservatives across the pond as well. Boris Johnson, the iconoclastic Tory mayor of London, penned an endorsement of Obama last week that included a withering assessment of Bush.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Johnson said the "catastrophic and unpopular" Iraq war had undermined the cause of democracy, while the global financial collapse "has done a great deal to discredit" free-market capitalism.

"Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea," Johnson continued. "To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune. To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty stunning achievement for an American president."

So You Think You Can Dance

The president enjoyed a small reprieve from the tide of bad economic and political news when one of his favorite foreign leaders, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, visited the Oval Office last week.

The "Iron Lady of Africa" is one of many African leaders who praise Bush for making international aid, especially to developing nations, a priority of his administration. Johnson Sirleaf was in town for a White House summit focused on the need to continue such aid despite the economic crisis.

Bush visited Liberia's capital of Monrovia in February, when he tossed off his jacket to take part in a lively dance with Johnson Sirleaf. The video of the event was a big hit on the Internet and highlighted Bush's recent tendency to bust his groove when given the chance.

"Madam President, I could not think of anybody better to give me dancing lessons than you," Bush said during his summit speech Tuesday.

Johnson Sirleaf returned the compliment during her visit to the White House the next day, telling Bush: "We want to say to you that your visit to our country is one that goes down in the record books as being one of the most enjoyable -- not only for the dancing."

This Thaw Has a Flaw

During a trip to Alexandria, La., last week, Bush turned his metaphors inside out in talking about frozen credit markets. "This thaw -- took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw," he said.

The cold was catching. On Wednesday, White House press secretary Dana Perino expressed hope that emergency measures are "starting to have an impact on unthawing the credit markets."

On Thursday she referred to the need to "unthaw the credit freeze." On Friday she said the market was starting to "unthaw a little bit."

Perino laughed when asked about the slips. "Sometimes things like that just get stuck in your head," she said.

Just for the record: The White House favors a thaw for those frozen credit markets.

G-20 Maneuverings

Everyone agrees that Bush and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd discussed the global economic crisis during a telephone call Oct. 10. What was actually said, however, is another matter.

According to a report last week in the Australian newspaper, Rudd ran into resistance from Bush on the question of whether the G-20 -- the Group of 20 industrialized and emerging nations -- should be brought together for an emergency summit, in order to include rising economic powers such as China and India. Some European leaders favored a smaller group.

"What's the G-20?" Bush asked, according to the newspaper report, which cited unidentified sources. Rudd was described as "stunned" by the question.

A U.S. official who monitored the call denied that Bush made any such remark. In addition, the official said, Bush told Rudd during the phone call that other leaders were also advocating a G-20 summit and that he was considering it.

Whatever happened during the call, Bush eventually agreed to host an emergency G-20 summit, which will be held Nov. 15 at the National Building Museum in Washington.

Rudd is expected to be one of the leaders in attendance.

Quote of the Week

"I have heard that people's attitudes are beginning to change, from a period of intense concerns -- and I would call it near panic -- to being more relaxed."

-- President Bush, Oct. 20,

on the economic crisis