In Race for Funds, Bush Is the Winner

President Bush’s reelection campaign raised a record $130 million last year, officials said Wednesday -- more than triple what Howard Dean, the top fundraiser among the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, amassed in 2003.

The figure eclipsed Bush’s fundraising total of about $100 million for the 2000 primaries.

And while the Democrats must spend the money they are now raising in pursuit of their party’s nomination, Bush entered the year with $99 million in the bank -- a hefty sum to begin touting his record, particularly in battleground states, even before the Democrats nominate a candidate in late July.

Nor is Bush taking a rest from fundraising.

Earlier this week, he collected an estimated $2.8 million at an appearance in St. Louis -- the largest amount raised at a single event in Missouri history.

And he is due to attend fundraisers today in Knoxville, Tenn., and Palm Beach, Fla.

The Bush campaign has set a goal of raising $170 million; some expect the total to reach $200 million or more.

“We’re a little bit ahead of where we thought we would be,” Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said Wednesday.

“We feel good about things.”

Of Bush’s 2003 total, $47 million came in the last quarter of the year, campaign officials said.

Dean raised about $40 million in 2003, collecting more than $15 million in the fourth quarter.

Donald F. Kettl, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist, said Bush was engaged in the political-campaign version of “shock and awe.”

The Bush campaign, he said, is “lying in wait, hoping to kneecap a Democratic candidate likely to emerge from the primaries wobbly and out of cash.... This could well be the most effective Rose Garden campaign in history, backed by a war chest the Democrats don’t have a prayer of matching.”

But Larry J. Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, said he doubts that campaign money will be the decisive factor in the election.

“Far more than most presidential years, 2004 is going to be defined by big, fundamental forces: war and peace, national security and terrorism, economic security and loss of jobs,” he said.

Sabato also said he believes that “both parties, and both major-party candidates, will have enough money to get across their basic messages.”

Of Bush’s total, campaign events brought in about $100 million, $27 million was raised by phone or through the mail, and $3 million came in over the Internet, reelection officials said.

Campaign finance experts said Bush’s success is partly attributable to the increase to $2,000 from $1,000 for the maximum contribution to candidates, which took effect last year.

“The increased limit has enhanced the political influence of people like corporate executives,” said Spencer Overton, a professor at the George Washington University Law School.

He cited a study by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based campaign watchdog group, showing that 73% of Bush’s total through Sept. 30 came from contributors who gave the $2,000 maximum.

“A corporate executive can ‘encourage’ a hundred company employees, lawyers, accountants and others whose livelihood depends on good relations with the executive to contribute $2,000 each to Bush,” Overton said.

“On the other hand, the increase has diluted the political influence of average Americans who cannot afford to give $2,000 contributions.”

Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel said that the majority of Bush contributors -- 415,000 -- donated less than $200.

About 44,000 donors contributed the $2,000 maximum.

Bush can spend unlimited sums through the GOP convention in early September because he has opted out of public financing during the primary campaign season and thus is not subject to spending limits imposed by the program.

Dean, a former Vermont governor, and Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, another Democratic contender for the White House, also decided not to accept public financing, freeing them from the limits should they emerge as their party’s expected nominee.

The eventual winner of the Democratic race is likely to be acknowledged by mid-March, at the latest.

The other Democratic candidates have accepted public financing. Should one of them triumph in the nomination race, that candidate might be financially unable to respond to a Bush advertising barrage during much of the spring and summer.

The Bush campaign held about 100 fundraising events last year, many of them featuring the president or Vice President Dick Cheney.

Others have had as their guests First Lady Laura Bush and Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush.

The Bush campaign website, www.georgewbush.com, lists 134 “Rangers,” including 14 Californians, who have raised at least $200,000 for the president and 216 “Pioneers” who have raised at least $100,000 as of Nov. 30.

No breakdown was immediately available of how much money was raised by Bush from California. Presidential candidates have until Jan. 31 to file reports with the Federal Election Commission detailing contributions, including occupations of contributors, and expenditures for the last three months of 2003.