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Politics

GOP campaigns keep Bush under wraps

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 24, 2006

WASHINGTON - Since President Bush's approval rating sank to the lowest level of his presidency in May, nearly six in 10 of his appearances helping Republican candidates have been closed to all media coverage.

Unlike his barnstorming leading up to the 2002 congressional elections, when his polling data was more positive and the Iraq war had not begun, Bush has yet to hold a single traditional campaign-style rally for one of his party's hopefuls this election cycle.

Every one of his events for GOP gubernatorial, House and Senate candidates has been to raise money from Republican donors - not to urge support among the broader voting public.

Some observers say the GOP's control of Congress is in danger. The tendency of many GOP candidates to keep their president under wraps is represented starkly in Bush's schedule in the week ahead.

Of six fundraisers Bush is headlining this week, all but one - for Alabama Gov. Bob Riley - are private, by agreement between the White House and the campaigns.

GOP Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio, potentially one of the more vulnerable Republicans, is a case study in the sometimes tricky dynamics of a president's assistance.

Bush is raising money for DeWine on Monday at a private home in Cincinnati. It is the third time Bush will have helped the senator, to the tune of about $1-million each time.

Earlier in the year, there was so much talk of DeWine snubbing the president that DeWine made a point to take in the Cincinnati Reds' home opener at Bush's side.

A photo of the two, taken in June when Bush last traveled to Ohio for a closed DeWine fundraiser, is the primary image of an anti-DeWine ad by the Senate Democrats' campaign committee. Above the picture of the two, the ad says: "Mike DeWine likes working together ... with George Bush."

DeWine's campaign points out that all the senator's fundraisers are closed and insists there is no attempt to shun the president.

"Not at all," said spokesman Brian Seitchik, who said DeWine will join Bush during a tour, open to reporters, of a business Monday.

The president appears to be itching to join the battle.

"I'm looking forward to the campaign. I'm looking forward to reminding the American people there are significant differences in between what our party believes and what the other party believes," the president said Thursday at a Tampa fundraiser for House candidate Gus Bilirakis.

And in fact, a number of Republicans in close races have embraced Bush, including Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, and Reps. Heather Wilson of New Mexico and Jim Gerlach and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

As Bilirakis put it Thursday, nothing beats having the president at your side. "Today we have the honor and the privilege of hearing from a man of great character and strong conviction: President George W. Bush. I'm proud to stand on this stage with the president," he said.

[Last modified September 24, 2006, 01:28:31]