Photo-op with Bush? Some Republicans camera shy

08/17/2006

When Air Force One comes to town next week, candidates face the tricky decision of whether to embrace their embattled leader.

Rob Hotakainen,
Star Tribune
Last update: August 17, 2006 – 12:40 AM

WASHINGTON - Michele Bachmann will have no qualms about being photographed with President Bush on Tuesday, when the commander-in-chief headlines her fundraiser in Wayzata.

“We have five children and they are all excited,” said Bachmann, the GOP candidate for the U.S. House from Minnesota’s Sixth District. “They’re all going to have haircuts. ... We’re going to get everybody there and just hope everyone smiles and is looking at the camera.”

Republican Rep. Mark Kennedy, running to replace Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton, says he welcomes the president, too, but he might be a little less eager. A loyal backer of the president during his six years in Congress, Kennedy is stressing his independence in his TV ads, and he didn’t even mention Bush’s name during his acceptance speech at the state GOP convention in June.

The White House says Bush plans to campaign more than he did in the 2002 off-year election, but with his popularity declining, GOP candidates must decide whether to embrace their embattled leader or duck when Air Force One comes to town. And in a year in which Republicans are expected to lose ground in Congress, they’re getting plenty of conflicting advice.

Nathan Gonzales, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, said it’s smart politics for GOP candidates to “avoid the photo-op” with Bush, noting it would be counterproductive for Kennedy because he needs swing voters.

But former Minnesota Republican Rep. Vin Weber, now a GOP super-lobbyist with ties to the White House, said such strategies won’t work.

“It’s really stupid if Republicans try to distance themselves from the president,” said Weber, recalling how he rejected advice in 1986 to separate himself from President Reagan. “The president is the leader of the party. The vast majority of us Republicans strongly support the kind of leadership he’s providing. And to try to convince the country that we’re something other than that is not going to work.”

Bush is doing more fundraising trips this year than he did in 2002, when the GOP gained ground in the mid-term elections.

Yet some want him to stay far away: In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, the GOP Senate candidate, said that being a Republican this year was like wearing a “scarlet letter.”

Although the White House has yet to disclose the president’s plans, Bachmann said Bush has agreed to attend her fundraiser at the home of Jim and Joann Jundt. The reception costs $1,000, while a $5,000 donation gets a photograph with Bush.

“I welcome help from the president,” Bachmann said. “It is no small honor to have the leader of the free world come and stand by someone like myself and say, ‘She needs to be on our team and I want to see her elected to be a member of Congress.’ “

Bush came to Minnesota in December, raising $1 million for Kennedy. Kennedy said he has no plans to ask the president to return for another fundraiser, but he said he’s hoping to attend a health-care address by the president next Tuesday. Details for that event have yet to be announced.

“I’m not walking away from the president,” Kennedy said. “I’m happy to talk about where we stand together. I’m happy to talk about where we have differences. ... The president is always welcome in Minnesota, as far as I’m concerned.”

After having raised more than $7 million for his Senate race, Kennedy no longer needs Bush to help him raise money, said Brian Melendez, chairman of the Minnesota DFL Party. But he noted that Democrat Patty Wetterling out-raised Bachmann by a 2-to-1 margin in the last quarter’s money chase.

“If you’re desperate for money, George Bush is a help to you,” Melendez said. “And if you’re not desperate for money, George Bush is a millstone.”

Kennedy said Democrats have an “obsession” over trying to link Republican candidates with Bush. “The untold story is the running away from issues on the part of Democratic candidates that have no solutions, only complaints,” he said.

Since Tuesday’s schedule has not been released by the White House, some Republicans—including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. John Kline—are uncertain about their plans.

But Pawlenty, who will co-host the fundraiser with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, doesn’t regard it as “a political calculation” to be seen with Bush, said Michael Krueger, the governor’s campaign manager.

Without naming any specific candidates, Pawlenty said recently that it’s a “weenie” move for Republicans to distance themselves from Bush.

“It doesn’t even really come down to political strategy for the governor,” Krueger said. “It’s just more about the fact that it’s always an honor to have the president visit your state, whoever the president is, Republican or Democrat, popular or unpopular.”

Bachmann predicted that her fundraiser with Bush “will do nothing but good things for my election.” She said she delivered her invitation when Karl Rove, Bush’s political adviser, came to the state to raise money for her last month.

“I said, ‘I’m glad that you’re here, but I’d really like to have your boss,’ “ Bachmann said. “That was on a Friday. And on Monday, we got a phone call letting us know that our wish had been granted. I couldn’t have been more excited.”

Democrats are excited, too.

“It gets our whole base energized—and we usually see a spike in donations, too,” Melendez said.