The Hindu : Bush kick-starts poll campaign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 19, 2003

International

International

Bush kick-starts poll campaign

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON JUNE 18. The re-election campaign of the US. President, George W Bush, has started in full fervour as the candidate has begun a 10-city fund-raising push that is expected to bring in $20 millions to his coffers.

The Washington bash on Tuesday raked in an estimated $3.5 millions as lawyers, consultants and lobbyists coffed up $2000 for hamburgers, hotdogs and nachos. "It is the best $2000 hamburger I ever had," a consultant has been quoted as saying. The Bush team will set its sights on New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Tampa; and next month is set to go to Dallas, Houston and Detroit. The Bush campaign has a supposed target of $170 millions, but privately even Republicans say that this re-election campaign could raise well over $200 millions.

Mr. Bush is not depending on public funding for his primary campaign and therefore can spend as much as he can collect until such time the Grand Old Party formally re-nominates him in September 2004.

In sharp contrast to the target of the Bush Campaign, the Pack of Nine in the Democratic Party together collected only $25 millions in the first three months. The Democratic contenders have especially a tough time keeping their campaigns going for a prolonged period of time for they would have to `settle' among themselves first. The indications are that no individual is running far ahead of the rest.

The contenders will have the critical Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primaries, both of which will be over by early 2004. The White House has defended the President's aggressive campaign collection drive saying that there is the need to counter what the "nine Democrats who spend all of their time saying negative things about the President," in the words of Ari Fleischer, the spokesman.The President is not alone in this job of fund raising. He is being helped out by the First Lady and the Vice-President who are visiting different parts of the country this month.

But the Bush campaign is seeing all this as only the first preparations for the elections of 2004 which is nearly 17 months away. Tuesday's event in Washington saw Mr. Bush speaking of his administration's achievements in the realm of domestic and foreign policies and issues that included the war on terrorism, tax cuts, education reforms and homeland security. "On issue after issue, we acted on principle, we kept our word and we made progress for the American people," the President remarked. The Democrats are trying to focus on the Bush administration's handling of the economy even as they are trying to make a case of a distracted foreign policy. According to the Democrats, the President's economic policies have been disastrous with his tax cuts going to help only the rich in the country.

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