December 4, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1424

WASHINGTON, Dec 3: US President George Bush is working overtime to swell his coffers for the presidential campaign, and his war chest is now almost a record 110 million dollars, even though election day is almost a year away.

Mr Bush, hoping for a second victory in the race for the White House, has increased his fund-raising stops across the United States. His aim is to raise a record 200 million dollars by the time of the Republican National Convention in September, when he will be reanointed as the party’s official candidate.

In his 2000 election campaign, Mr Bush spent 100 million dollars and set a record in US presidential fund-raising efforts. Now he looks set to smash his own mark.

The Bush formula is simple: While anyone is welcome to hear the president speak at a fund-raising event or dinner, a 2,000-dollar check — the legal maximum donation — helps secure a front-row seat and generous patronage.

Bush donors come in two categories, depending on the depth of their pockets: the “pioneers” and the “rangers”.

A well-known ranger, Teel Bivins, a long-time Bush supporter and Texas lawmaker, has just been nominated to serve as the US ambassador to Sweden.

According to the latest official count, Mr Bush by the end of October raked in about 85 million dollars.

Since then, however, Mr Bush’s war chest has grown to almost 110 million dollars, according to whitehouseforsale.org, which is close to opposition Democrats and advocates a less cash-dominated US political life.

Because Mr Bush chose to reject federal funding for his campaign, as he did in 2000, he is free to raise as much cash from private donations as he can.

Candidates who opt for federal funding have a ceiling on their fund-raising efforts.

Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor who pollsters say is the leading contender out of the nine Democrats vying to run against Mr Bush, has also rejected federal funding.

However, Dean has raised only about a third of the cash, or some 30 million dollars, that Mr Bush has banked.

Mr Bush’s hunger for campaign funds takes up significant time: at his current pace, the president attends two fund-raising events a week.

As far as possible, the White House tries to coordinate the wallet-tapping with official presidential business, such as factory visits or trips to schools and military bases.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Mr Bush raised some 850,000 dollars from 425 well-heeled donors during a fund-raising speech. However, in that once powerful steel town, politics was not far from the podium.

By Dec 10, Mr Bush has to decide whether he should eliminate the tariffs he imposed last year on foreign steel imports, which have been ruled improper by the World Trade Organization. Mr Bush was hosted in Pittsburgh by Thomas Usher, the chief executive of US Steel.

According to the White House, the two men spoke briefly about the controversial tariffs.

Usher voiced his opposition to any elimination of the protective tariffs, and Mr Bush assured the steel executive he still had not reached a decision on the matter, despite the prospect of retaliatory measures by the European Union.

Although the president considers fund-raising a serious business, American comics are poking fun at his mix of politics and cash-raising.

In one recent skit, popular talk-show host and comedian Jay Leno hosted a Bush impersonator who thanked members of the public for their financial largess. When told he was not attending a fund-raiser but that he was on television, the presidential impersonator turned away, saying: “I am outta here.” —AFP