Apparently, former President [tag]Bill Clinton[/tag] is in demand this campaign season.
In what promises to be his most intensive [tag]campaign[/tag] season since he left office, former President Bill [tag]Clinton[/tag] is scheduled to appear at more than two dozen fund-raisers for Democrats around the country, hoping to collect at least $20 million for his party’s drive to recapture Congress.
“In contrast to Republican candidates who are running away from George Bush, our candidates are clamoring for him in every part of the country,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
[tag]RNC[/tag] spokesperson Tracey Schmitt denied Schumer’s claim and insisted Bush was very much in demand this campaign season, noting that he had appeared at 37 fundraising events since the beginning of 2005. What Schmitt didn’t mention is that the candidates the president helps frequently choose not to be in the same room as Bush.
Republican congressional candidates throughout the U.S. love President [tag]George W. Bush[/tag]’s fund-raising prowess. They just don’t want to be [tag]seen[/tag] in [tag]public[/tag] with him.
How bad is it? Now, even Rick [tag]Santorum[/tag] is keeping his distance.
When [tag]Bush[/tag] headlined a May 24 fundraiser in Philadelphia to benefit members of Pennsylvania’s Republican congressional delegation, only two of the 13 incumbents up this year — Representatives Jim Gerlach and Michael Fitzpatrick, the event’s main beneficiaries — attended.
Among those absent was Senator Rick Santorum, who trails Democratic challenger Robert Casey by 13 percentage points in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. The poll, taken May 2-8, also showed Bush’s approval rating at 30 percent in the state, compared with 73 percent four years ago.
“There was a time when on any trip by the president to Pennsylvania, you’d find Rick Santorum fairly close by,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown. “Any time the president is in the state for a big fund-raising event and Rick Santorum isn’t there, it’s fair to question why.”
Et tu, Rick?