- WASHINGTON (AP) -- President
Bush's campaign - expected to dwarf Democratic hopefuls by raising $200
million or more for the primaries, with no GOP rival - is appealing for
donations by portraying Bush as a fund-raising underdog who won't have
enough cash to defend himself against Democratic attacks.
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- "Democrats and their allies will have more money
to spend attacking the president during the nomination battle than we will
have to defend him," campaign chairman Marc Racicot wrote in the fund-raising
e-mail sent Wednesday night. "If you need more convincing the president
needs your help, consider what the Democrats are saying. The race is just
starting, but their rhetoric is already red-hot."
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- Bush has set several fund-raising records, including
the most collected for a presidential primary campaign, and the most raised
at a single event.
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- Racicot's e-mail attributes quotes to several Democratic
presidential hopefuls criticizing Bush.
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- Among them, Racicot says former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean
stated that Bush might suspend the 2004 election, called Bush "reckless"
and "despicable," compared him to the Taliban and said Bush was
trying to destroy Social Security, Medicare, public schools and public
services.
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- Asked if the comments attributed to Dean were accurate,
Dean spokeswoman Tricia Enright was incredulous.
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- "Compared him to the Taliban? Absolutely not. Suspend
the 2004 election? What is that about?" Enright asked. "He said
his (Bush's) tax policies were reckless. Obviously all this was taken out
of context."
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- Enright said it was surprising that "a guy who has
portrayed himself as the fund-raising Superman" was now describing
himself as an underdog.
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- Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel defended the letter,
arguing that although other Republicans have said Bush is expected to raise
at least $200 million, campaign officials have indicated they hope to collect
$150 million to $170 million. That's less than those in the nine-way Democratic
race and groups that support Democrats will collectively take in, he said.
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- Stanzel said Dean made the remarks listed in the e-mail;
he cited a Jan. 24 Newsweek article that quoted Dean as saying that "comparing
the administration to the Taliban was going a little over the line."
Dean was referring to previous remarks in which he said the Bush administration
was attacking abortion and joked that soon it would try to keep girls out
of school.
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- Bush's fund raising has broken records. In 2000, he bypassed
public financing and its spending limits in the primaries and raised more
than $100 million with help from his "pioneers," volunteers who
collected at least $100,000 each for him.
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- The 2000 Democratic hopefuls, including eventual nominee
Al Gore, took public money and were limited to $40.5 million in primary
spending.
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- Last year, Bush set a single-event record by raising
more than $30 million at each of two galas for the GOP, surpassing the
previous mark of $26.5 million set in 2000 by then-President Bill Clinton
at a Democratic Party fund-raiser.
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- Bush also is skipping public financing for next year's
primaries. With the individual donation limit doubled to $2,000 under the
new campaign finance law, he is widely expected to raise more than $200
million.
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- Bush began fund raising in mid-May and had taken in $35
million by the end of June, the most recent figures available.
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- The biggest fund-raiser among the Democratic hopefuls
from January through June was Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, whose campaign
collected $16 million.
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- "George Bush's campaign coffers need more money
like his wealthy contributors need more tax cuts at the expense of Social
Security, health care and a balanced budget," Kerry spokesman Robert
Gibbs said.
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- Racicot's e-mail says Democrats "will have the all-out
help of some leaders in the AFL-CIO, many wealthy personal injury trial
lawyers, and well-funded liberal special interests. The hundreds of millions
of dollars they will spend could make the race close."
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- He noted the $10 million multibillionaire George Soros
pledged to a new get-out-the-vote group, America Coming Together. It plans
to raise $75 million from labor groups and others to try to defeat Bush.
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- ACT is among several groups Democrats' supporters have
formed to help the party compensate for the loss of "soft money,"
corporate, union and unlimited donations the new law bars the national
parties from collecting.
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- In the first half of this year, allowed to raise only
limited donations from individuals and political action committees, the
GOP's three national committees raised $115.7 million, compared to $44.2
million by their Democratic counterparts.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2003
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3082047,00.html
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