Bush making brief visit to Seattle today

OLYMPIA – President Bush planned to dash into the politically fluid Seattle suburbs today for a high-powered campaign fundraiser for freshman Rep. Dave Reichert and the state GOP.

Bush’s visit was expected to be brief – no public events were scheduled – but important for the state party and Reichert, whose re-election bid has been targeted by Democrats.

“No one can raise money like the president,” said Chris Vance, a consultant at the Gallatin Group and former state Republican chairman.

“There are a certain level of donors who are just not going to turn out for anybody but the president.”

Bush is expected to visit the Medina mansion of Peter Neupert, a Microsoft Corp. vice president. Bush’s schedule has him in the state for less than three hours before he heads to New Mexico for another political function.

Admission to the Medina reception, expected to draw scores of donors, is $1,000. Individual photographs with the president are more expensive, at $10,000.

The event should yield at least $500,000, Vance said.

The proceeds will be divided between Reichert and the state Republican Party, the latter using the money for get-out-the-vote efforts.

Reichert’s 8th District, which includes rural Cascade foothills and tony waterfront homes, favored John Kerry for president when it sent Reichert, a former King County sheriff, to Washington, D.C., in 2004.

Reichert, who highlights his centrist credentials, welcomed Bush’s assistance in a Thursday afternoon statement that maintained a bit of political distance.

“Although the president and I don’t agree on everything, I have great respect for the tremendous responsibility the leader of the free world must bear every day,” the congressman said.

Democrats are running former Microsoft Corp. manager Darcy Burner, a political newcomer who turned some heads with a surge of political donations in the first three months of the year.

On Thursday, Burner appealed to Internet activists by posting a long statement and plea for donations on a widely read liberal Web site: “I have made a personal investment to win this. But ultimately, this race is in your hands.”

Democratic leaders were cheering the arrival of Bush, with his low approval ratings, and planned to razz the president at a rally in Seattle.

“Clearly, they are desperate for campaign cash,” state Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz said. “Dave Reichert carries George W. Bush around his neck like an anchor.”

State Republican Chairwoman Diane Tebelius, however, noted recent bursts of good news out of Iraq, including the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the recent completion of a new Iraqi government.

“So he comes here on an upswing, a man who stands behind his word,” Tebelius said. “He comes into this state on a high note.”

Anti-war activists also planned protests, saying they would gather in nearby parks and in kayaks and boats on the shores of Lake Washington.

Notably absent will be GOP Senate hopeful Mike McGavick, who is challenging freshman Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.

McGavick was invited to be part of the Bush visit, but backed out in favor of his eldest son’s high school graduation, taking place in Pennsylvania the night before Bush arrives.

“It was never possible for me to go,” McGavick said recently. “I’m very sorry for it. I wish I could be with the president.”