Bush, Cheney add $5.65m to campaign fund

NEW YORK: President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday added nearly $6 million to their 2004 re-election campaign war chest, bringing the total for their first week’s fund-raising to $11.9 million.

“You’re laying the foundation for what will be a national victory come November, 2004,” Bush said at an event in predominantly Democratic New York, where he raised $4 million. Reflecting expected campaign themes, Bush’s speech dealt with domestic issues of reviving the economy and reforming the health care system and with vows of American victory in a war against terrorism.

“We know for our country and for our cause, better days lie ahead,” he said. He pledged to continue the agenda of “compassionate conservatism” that he ran on in 2000. Critics of his administration have said Bush’s agenda as president has been more conservative than his slogan had suggested.

Also on Monday, Vice President Cheney headlined his first re-election fund-raisers of the season. He raised $452,000 in Richmond, Virginia and $1.2 million in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, according to figures provided by the Bush-Cheney campaign. First lady Laura Bush raised $500,000 last week in Tennessee. New York State Gov. George Pataki, co-chairman of the event along with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, called Bush “a president who understands the importance of New York.” He praised Bush for seeking to boost the economy “not by raising taxes but by cutting taxes.”

“New York is going to lead the way to make sure that we have him for four more years,” Pataki said. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the honorary chairman of the event. About 1,000 guests paid $2,000 each for the dinner; other donors to the event did not attend, Bush-Cheney campaign spokeswoman Nicolle Devenish told reporters. —Reuters

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