In the words of the immortal Sherlock Holmes, "The game is afooot!"See also, from www.heraldtribune.com:
Bush to make 10-hour stop in CaliforniaNo mention in this AP story about OUR "stealth" rally - in SUPPORT of the President...
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
President Bush was to fatten his $30 million campaign wallet during a 10-hour stay in California on Friday. But, for the president, raising campaign cash there is a cinch compared with winning the state in 2004.
Even with a 61 percent job approval rating in California and an unpopular Democratic governor facing a grass roots recall effort, capturing the Golden State's 54 electoral votes will be a tough, if not impossible, job for the president next year.
Bush's first stop Friday was in suburban San Francisco for a $2,000-a-plate luncheon. However, two-thirds of the $5 million he was expected to pick up in the state was to come from an upscale dinner for about 1,800 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, according to Republican officials.
After dinner, Bush was flying to Texas for a weekend at his ranch. Two more fund-raisers in Florida on Monday make up the final leg of a two-week, cross-country, money-raising blitz.
The Bush-Cheney campaign says the president expects to raise $27 million to $30 million during the three-month fund-raising period that ends June 30 - and Bush didn't even launch his re-election campaign until May 16. By contrast, all nine Democratic presidential hopefuls may manage to raise $30 million during the same three-month period.
The Bush figure includes upcoming fund-raisers such as the $5 million California sweep, and estimates of mail and Internet donations, said Bush-Cheney campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish.
"He's trying to purchase the second term," said Bob Mulholland, a spokesman for the Democratic Party in California. He said state Republicans' claims that Bush might win California were pie-in-the-sky.
"He's not going to have California in his column," Mulholland said. "If you really have a conversation with key Republicans - anonymously - they'll tell you California is not on the plate. It's too big, too costly and too Democratic."
Bush lost to Al Gore by 12 percentage points in 2000, but a California Field Poll conducted in April shows Bush would beat a generic Democratic presidential nominee 45 percent to 40 percent. The poll showed Bush had a 61 percent job approval rating, with the war in Iraq generally boosting his standing among Hispanics.
Anti-Bush forces in California planned to use Bush's fund-raising visit to voice their opposition to his administration.
On Friday, a group called A.N.S.W.E.R., which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, plans a protest in Los Angeles near where one fund-raiser was being held.
Also on Friday, the League of Conservation Voters was to begin airing a 30-second television spot in the Los Angeles and Washington markets, saying Bush was on his way to compiling the worst environmental record in history.
The environmental group, formally nonpartisan, but with ties to congressional Democrats, gave the president a grade of F on its recent report card, down from a D in January 2002. The group says the Bush administration's approach to the environment demonstrates a clear bias toward the interests of the oil industry, the utility industry and other corporate contributors at the expense of the health and safety of the public.
The White House says the report is driven by politics and fund-raising and ignores bipartisan support the president has gotten on some issues, including a forest-thinning proposal that drew 46 Democratic votes out of 205 in the House in May.
"Unfortunately, if the administration's record teaches us anything, it is that the money they raise today puts them more in debt to special interests tomorrow," says David Donnelly, director of Reform Voter Project, a campaign finance report group. "This president is well on his way to the notorious distinction as the most indebted occupant of the White House in modern history."
Bush was not expected to address the top political issue in the state, the recall effort to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.
A coalition of labor unions, civil rights organizations, church groups and some business leaders wanted Bush to tell Republicans to give up the fight to get rid of Davis, but White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said the president believed it was a matter for Californians to decide.
Perhaps they will be in for a small surprise. :o)
