WASHINGTON – President Bush is hitting the campaign trail in the closing month of the crucial midterm elections, to raise cash for GOP House and Senate hopefuls.
Bush’s money drive comes as Democrats – emboldened by the House Republican sex scandal and an intelligence assessment that found the Iraq war has contributed to a boost in terrorists – surge in several closely watched Senate polls.
Bush, who remains wildly popular among the conservative party base, is a cash cow for the GOP, raising an eye-popping $182 million during 72 fund-raisers for the Republican National Committee in the current 2005-2006 congressional election cycle, said RNC spokeswoman Tracy Schmitt.
With elections to control Congress just 35 days away, polls are showing Democrats either ahead or tied in many key races.
Mason-Dixon polls released yesterday show Democrats now hold the lead in hotly contested Senate races in four states: Pennsylvania by 9 percentage points, Rhode Island by 1, Ohio by 2, and Tennessee by 1.
The latest surveys also show Democrats in a tie with the Republicans in Missouri and Virginia.
Polls late last week showed Democrats ahead by 5 percentage points in normally Republican Montana, and ahead by 13 in Minnesota.
To jump-start GOP momentum, Bush swooped into Nevada yesterday, days after traveling to the battleground states of Ohio and Tennessee.
The president continues his campaign blitz today with a slew of events for Republican House candidates up and down California.
And he concludes his West Coast swing tomorrow with stump stops in Arizona and Colorado.
Bush ran his final campaign in 2004 – but maintaining Republican control of Congress will dictate his agenda for his final two years in the Oval Office.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino recently told reporters that Bush “plans to continue explaining the differences between the parties during this campaign, so that the American people know what their options are.”
Bush’s $182 million is almost half the $369 million the party has pocketed from donors over the two-year period – way above the Democratic National Committee’s $264 million take.
“There is more demand [for Bush] than supply,” Schmitt said.
Vice President Dick Cheney is also a big hit on the fund-raising circuit, raking in $38 million, as is First Lady Laura Bush, who has netted $13 million.
BATTLEGROUND STATES
New Mason-Dixon polls show Dems ahead or even in these tight Senate races:
Last week’s polls showed Dems ahead in these states:
MONTANA: John Tester (D)
leads Sen. Conrad Burns
(R): 48% to 43%
MINNESOTA: Amy Klobuchar (D) leads Mark Kennedy (R): 52% to 39%
RHODE ISLAND: Sheldon Whitehouse (D, above) leads Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R): 42% to 41%
PENNSYLVANIA: Bob Casey (D, above) leads Sen. Rick Santorum (R): 49% to 40%
MISSOURI: Claire McCaskill (D, above) is tied with Sen. Jim Talent (R): 43%
OHIO: Sherrod Brown (D, above) leads Sen. Mike DeWine (R): 45% to 43%
TENNESSEE: Harold Ford (D) leads Bob Corker (R): 43% to 42%
VIRGINIA: Jim Webb (D) is tied with Sen. George Allen (R): 43%