Washington – President Bush says polls don’t matter to him, but his slumping popularity appears to be influencing fellow Republicans in a way that hurts – money.
Bush’s yearly fundraising dinner for Republican congressional candidates on Wednesday generated $15.4 million – no small amount, but much less than the $27 million the event brought in last year. Bush raised $23 million at the same dinners in 2005 and 2004.
This year’s annual gala benefiting the national Republican Party also took in much less than usual. Bush helped raise $10.5 million at the event last month, compared with $17 million last year, $15 million the year before and a record $38.5 million in 2004.
The president, sounding familiar themes, defended the war in Iraq to an audience of roughly 3,000 people at Wednesday night’s dinner. He described it as a fight for security in Iraq and the United States, one that generations of Americans will come to see as a just cause.
“I believe if our candidates take the message of doing what is necessary to protect the American people, and take the message – the hopeful message – of helping others realize the blessings of liberty, that we will retake the House, and retake the Senate, and hold the White House in 2008,” Bush said.
