Schwarzenegger key to Bush success in California, official says
Monterey Herald ^ | 7/20/04 | Erica Werner - AP
Posted on 07/20/2004 8:35:25 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush's success in California depends on Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance as governor, the chairman of the Bush-Cheney California campaign said Tuesday.
"Nothing is more important to us in the Bush campaign in California than Arnold Schwarzenegger's success. Nothing," campaign chairman Gerry Parsky said. "Because as he succeeds, we have the potential to complete the process that we are undertaking" of building Republican support in the nation's most populous state.
Independent analysts say Bush has scant chance of winning Democrat-leaning California Nov. 2, and Schwarzenegger has shown lukewarm interest in campaigning with the president, who is far less popular in California than he is.
However, Republican officials in California said Tuesday that Schwarzenegger plans to attend a GOP fund-raiser with Bush on Aug. 12 in a Santa Monica airport hanger. The event is being billed as the "California Presidential Gala," according to the invitation.
Schwarzenegger declined to appear publicly with Bush on the president's last trip to California. They did appear together in public in October 2003, before Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor.
Parsky, who is also a San Diego investor and chairman of the University of California Board of Regents, told reporters at a media round-table in Washington that Schwarzenegger's election has made California friendlier territory for Republicans.
"The dynamic has changed totally with Schwarzenegger," Parsky said...
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Bush, Kerry follow same map on road to White House:
They're appearing in same states, same time
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | August 11, 2004 | Marc Sandalow, Washington Bureau Chief
Posted on 08/11/2004 6:53:45 AM PDT by RonDog
Bush, Kerry follow same map on road to White House
They're appearing in the same states at nearly the same time -- is it coincidence?Washington -- It looked like a coincidence when President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry spoke within three blocks of each other along the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, on the same day last week.This week, a pattern emerged.
Kerry, over a six-day period that began Sunday, is campaigning in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and California. Bush, over three days beginning today, is campaigning in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and California. In each instance, Bush is scheduled to follow Kerry by less than 72 hours. Both candidates will be in Los Angeles on Thursday, and both are scheduled to be in Portland on Friday.
Neither side will fess up to adjusting their schedules to clash with the other, nor do they seriously accuse their opponents of stalking them. Nonetheless, Kerry supporters labeled Bush's trip the "me-too tour,'' the "follow-the-leader tour" and a "taxpayer-financed game of tag.''
"I do find it curious, maybe even suspicious,'' said Kerry spokesman Luis Vizcaino, sensing an opportunity to take a jab. "But to think that the Bush campaign was clever enough to strategically plan events in the same states and at the same time as John Kerry would be giving Republicans too much credit."
Bush aides scoff at the idea, given the logistics involved in a presidential trip, that their candidate would be nimble enough to follow around the Democratic senator from Massachusetts -- even if Bush wanted to.
"The president's schedule is determined weeks, sometimes months, in advance,'' said Bush campaign press secretary Terry Holt. "The president's schedule is not determined by the machinations of the Democratic ticket...''
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