March 4, 2004
DREAMS AND SCHEMES AND CIRCUS CROWDS:
Bush talks up economic leadership in California (AP, March 4, 2004)
President Bush talked up his economic leadership Thursday, rounding out a California tour that gathered $5 million for his and other Republicans' campaigns and marked the start of bare-knuckled attacks on presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. [...]"He spent two decades in Congress; he's built up quite a record," Bush told the crowd of 600 that added $800,000 to his campaign coffers. "In fact, Senator Kerry has been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue."
Although Bush lost California's 55 electoral votes by a wide margin in 2000, the election of GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who attended a swanky Bel Air fund-raiser Wednesday night, has the White House hoping for a better result in November.
"With Arnold in the game it's a totally different ballgame," Bush's California campaign chair Gerald Parsky said.
NPR had a terrific interview with Bob Dole this morning about what it's like to be challenging an incumbent President during this long lull with no money and news coverage. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 4, 2004 5:55 PM
Kerry will get much more publicity and much more puffing up in the next few months than Bob Dole got in 20 years. But the media types who know Kerry best hate him - so the tide will turn. But slowly. The Democratic cheerleaders like Katie Couric will always be there to do a few splits for the home team.
Posted by: jim hamlen at March 4, 2004 7:20 PMJim - 'splits for the home team' - marvelous - I sprayed my screen on that one
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at March 4, 2004 8:33 PMKatie doing splits sounds like the promo for another "Today Show" colonoscopy segment for sweeps month...
Posted by: John at March 4, 2004 8:52 PM"the start of bare-knuckled attacks on presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry" - sheesh.
I'm not sure (yet) Bush will win CA but ya gotta think with Arnold and an energized CA GOP Bush can come close and force Kerry and the Dems to spend time and money, and perhaps even a VP slot for Fienstein (which would be great news for the GOP)