Sen. John McCain (left), President Bush and Cindy McCain (as found at talkradionews.com)
Tribune writer Paul Giblin is reporting that President Bush will be in Phoenix May 27 at a high-roller fund raiser to bring in money for John McCain’s presidential bid and several related groups including the Republican National Committee and state GOP parties in Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
But not the Arizona Republican Party.
That’s odd because McCain’s home state party apparently could use some help. The Arizona GOP raised only $214,599 through Jan. 31 (the last report available) for state causes and had only $2,594 in cash on hand. Federal reports show the state party had raised $934,051 to support federal candidates as of March 31, and had $129,552 in cash left.
By comparison, the state Democratic Party had raised $934,906 though Jan. 31 for state causes (although it was $289,302 in debt because of additional spending). On the federal side, the Democratic Party had raised a whopping $2.2 million (and spent nearly all of it).
Arizona Republican Party spokesman Tony Reinhard said the local hosts don’t need Bush’s help because McCain will handily defeat the Democrat nominee in November.
“Arizona isn’t in play,” Reinhard said. “We understood that Arizona would be a donor state to help those other states where the race will be more competitive.”
Reinhard said Arizona being snubbed has nothing to do with the fact that McCain and state Republican Party chairman Randy Pullen really, really, really don’t like each other. Pullen has had some rough criticism for Bush and other Republican leaders in the past for being too soft on immigration enforcement.
Pullen’s stance has played well with many grassroots Republicans but has turned off power players who round up the heavy donors. The state party is hoping to overcome that problem Friday night with a major fund-raising dinner and a successful state convention on Saturday, both in Mesa.
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