Bush Team Plays Role Fit for a Kingmaker

When he speaks at tonight’s fund-raiser in Little Rock for Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), President Bush will be making his debut as the GOP’s fund-raiser in chief.

But behind the scenes, Bush and his top White House political operatives, including Vice President Dick Cheney, have been playing kingmaker for weeks.

And as they energetically recruit candidates and dissuade others from running--all toward bolstering Republican ranks in the narrowly divided Congress--the relish they have brought to the task has raised some eyebrows.

“The willingness of this White House . . . to really jump in with both feet, I guess it surprised me a little,” said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of a political newsletter.

Fund-raising is an integral part of being a modern president, to be sure. And Bill Clinton set a new standard in doing so, hosting White House coffees and even sleepovers in the Lincoln Bedroom for big donors.

But while Bush vows to scrupulously shun such controversial practices, he faces a different set of questions as he embarks on a fund-raising binge.

For one thing, Bush’s escalating political activities may seem inconsistent with his expressed desire to restore bipartisanship.

“It’s a lot harder to stress that you’re changing the tone and improving civility if, at the same time, you’re trying to recruit candidates to beat the stuffings out of your opponents,” said Rothenberg.

“This is not the first time that people have multiple agendas that are inherently in conflict. But I thought they’d be more delicate in tiptoeing around.”

Hardly, as many ambitious office seekers and climbers are discovering.

Earlier this month, Cheney placed an eleventh-hour call to Tim Pawlenty, the Republican House majority leader in Minnesota--and persuaded him to abort a bid for the GOP nomination to run against incumbent Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Democrat.

A day earlier, top White House political aide Karl Rove also had called Pawlenty, urging him not to run, evidently to no avail. But Cheney’s call the next day did the trick, and it came a mere 90 minutes before Pawlenty’s scheduled news conference to announce his candidacy.

Thus the White House cleared the field for St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, who chaired Bush’s presidential campaign in Minnesota.

“I was de-cruited,” Pawlenty said in a Tuesday telephone interview.

He quoted Cheney as saying: “We’re asking you for the good of the overall effort to stand down,” and then said of his reversal:

“When you get a call from the vice president of the United States, who indicates he’s speaking on behalf of the president, that is something I respect and honor.”

On Capitol Hill, Rep. John R. Thune (R-S.D.) is being pressured by the White House to challenge incumbent Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) instead of running for governor.

Bush spoke to Thune about making a Senate bid, when the president on March 8 campaigned in Sioux Falls, S.D., for his domestic agenda.

“He mentioned it in passing; he just was curious to know where I was, whether I had totally closed the door” to a Senate race, Thune recalled in an interview. “And he said he wanted to visit more in the future about it.”

Last week, Thune and his wife found themselves in the White House residence having dinner with the president, First Lady Laura Bush and her mother, Jenna Welch.

Over a dinner of veal, followed by a chocolate-raspberry dessert with French vanilla ice cream, the president delivered a stronger pitch.

“I certainly would love to have some help getting my agenda through the Senate,” Thune quoted Bush as saying.

The congressman said he will make a decision later this year.

The White House also got involved in an upcoming Virginia special election called after the death of Rep. Norman Sisisky (D-Va.).

At the urging of Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-Va.), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rove phoned the man whom Davis considered the strongest possible GOP contender for the seat, state Sen. Randy Forbes. At the time, Forbes was in the middle of a campaign for lieutenant governor. But he dropped that bid to seek the House seat instead.

“It was a tough decision,” said Greg Thomas, a spokesman for Forbes.

In addition to tonight’s $1,000-per-plate dinner for Hutchinson, Bush soon is to be the keynote speaker at two other fund-raisers, expected to raise a combined $25 million. That is roughly a quarter of what the prodigious Clinton raised during all of 2000, in about 200 events.

On May 22, the president and first lady are to star in the Republican National Committee’s annual fund-raising gala, with a projected take of $15 million. He also is to headline a House-Senate campaign committee dinner June 27, expected to earn $10 million or more. Cheney already has appeared at a fund-raising dinner for the GOP campaign committee, a March event that brought in more than $7 million.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Tuesday that the president has no compunctions about preaching bipartisanship while raising funds for partisan purposes.

“The president is going to help raise money for people who will support his agenda of improving education by voting for more accountability, who will allow people to keep more money in their pockets through tax relief, and who won’t go on spending sprees,” Fleischer said.

Among the participants in the administration’s aggressive fund-raising efforts are members of Bush’s Cabinet. Already, questions are being raised about an event involving Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Earlier this month, he hosted GOP donors in his office for a “legislative update” after buses brought them there directly from a Republican National Committee telephone bank in connection with the May 22 “Presidential Gala.”

Officials at the RNC and Department of Health and Human Services said fund-raising was not discussed during that session in Thompson’s office. If it had been, it could be a violation of federal law.

“The secretary of HHS received word from his counsel that his actions were in accordance with all provisions of the law,” Fleischer added Tuesday. “. . . The president does believe it is appropriate for Cabinet members to help elect people who will pass and promote the president’s agenda.”

As for Bush’s own fund-raising activities, Fleischer said:

“Any actions that the president takes to support members of his party who are running for office--and he will take actions to support members of his party who run for office--will be done in accordance with the laws and in accordance with his high standard of ethics.”

The mastermind behind the White House strategy, Rove, has circulated a memo among senior White House staff identifying 18 vulnerable House Republicans for special administration attention.

Rove’s memo lays out a plan to enhance their political appeal back home by bringing them to the White House for meetings in order to “earn media and discuss district needs.”

These visits are designed to give members facing tight races a chance to tell the administration what they need--legislatively and politically--and to bask in the glow of a White House visit.

Hutchinson, beneficiary of tonight’s fund-raiser at Little Rock’s new Statehouse Convention Center, is obviously delighted by the presidential appearance.

Projected to raise at least $700,000, Hutchinson expects it to be the biggest single fund-raiser in Arkansas history.

“It’s a huge boost,” he said. “I can’t exaggerate the sense of excitement about his coming.”