Vacationing Bush Makes Time for 2 Fund-Raisers

President Bush interrupted his ranch vacation one more time Thursday for the business of the presidency: two Republican fund-raisers and, just as closely tied to the autumn elections, a reminder to voters that his education policies are taking hold in the classroom.

The president spoke at a fund-raising luncheon for two Republicans in Oklahoma and at a dinner in Arkansas, bringing in more than $1 million. In between, he visited the Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School in Little Rock, announcing a pilot plan under which five states will receive federal help to improve curriculums designed to better prepare students for college or technical school.

Bush has regularly left his ranch during his August vacation to keep his presidency in the public eye, to summon public patience for the war against terrorism--and, lately, to draw new attention to the dangers he says are posed by Iraq under President Saddam Hussein.

And as much as he has sought to keep his political agenda at the front of public debate, Bush has also left Texas to speak at Republican Party events geared to the immediate needs of GOP candidates this November. When the sums are totaled for his fund-raising efforts this month, it has been an $8.6-million vacation.

The races in Oklahoma, where Rep. Steve Largent is running to replace incumbent Republican Gov. Frank Keating, and Sen. James M. Inhofe, a Republican, is seeking a second term, appear to pose no particular challenge for the GOP candidates.

But in Arkansas, a recent poll shows Sen. Tim Hutchinson, a Republican, trailing Atty. Gen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat and the politically moderate son of a popular former governor and senator, David Pryor.

Along with Bob Smith in New Hampshire, Hutchinson is considered the Republican senator most at risk of losing reelection in November. Arkansas will be in the spotlight during the autumn campaign that will determine whether Democrats retain control of the Senate, where they now have a one-vote edge.

Arkansas, long considered safe territory for Democrats, has largely turned Republican in the post-Bill Clinton era. Since Clinton was elected to the presidency in 1992, the state has elected a Republican governor, a Republican senator and supported Bush over Al Gore, 51% to 46%, in the 2000 election.

But Hutchinson alienated some conservative Christian supporters when he divorced his wife and married one of his aides. His brother, Asa, now the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, was a member of the team in the House of Representatives pressing Clinton’s impeachment during the scandal involving ex-White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky.

With most political fund-raising complete, Bush is likely to shift his attention in September and October to rallying voters to turn out for Republican candidates.

The fund-raising events brought in $500,000 in Oklahoma and $600,000 in Arkansas, Scott McClellan, deputy White House press secretary, said. Because the White House added the speech on education to Bush’s travel schedule, the federal government shares the costs of Bush’s day with the political campaigns he is supporting.

McClellan said the education program would make $2.4 million available for the five states accepted in the program. Arkansas has been chosen to take part, Bush announced here. The other states have not been selected.

The program, built on one begun in Texas, involves local businesses and schools teaming up to challenge students into pursuing rigorous academic courses, the president said.

“It is an effective way to spread the word to parent and student alike that if you’re interested in your future, raise the bar, take the toughest courses,” Bush said.

He urged students to reject the notion that pursuing tough courses “will make you a nerd.”

The president used the opening of schools around the country to promote the education legislation he signed at the beginning of this year.

The measure is intended to toughen standards for teachers and, through increased testing of students, provide greater accountability of school systems to local communities.

“If you set the bar low, that’s exactly what you’re going to get. You’re going to get mediocrity,” he said, bending low and placing his hand beneath the shelf of his lectern.

The president made only passing reference to the tensions with Iraq, leaving Vice President Dick Cheney--for the second time this week--to lay out the administration’s rationale for seeking to remove Hussein’s regime. Cheney presented those arguments, first made Monday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Nashville, to another veterans group in San Antonio on Thursday.

At the Hutchinson fund-raiser, Bush noted only that “we’ve got a lot of pressure we can bring to bear.... We will not allow those tyrants to hold the United States and our friends and allies blackmailed with weapons of mass destruction.”

In Oklahoma, as he does routinely in political speeches, he saluted the spouses of the candidates he was supporting, saying: “All of us up here on this stage married above ourselves.”

He made no such remark in Arkansas.

The president returned to his ranch near Crawford, Texas, after the speeches here. He plans to end his nearly four-week stay at the weekend, returning to the White House Sunday before making a Labor Day speech on Monday in Pennsylvania.