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Lori Prichard and Tonya Papanikolas reporting Even though the President's approval ratings are at an all-time low, he's still considered the GOP's prime source for campaign cash, and he plans to raise a pile of cash during his trip to Salt Lake City and Park City tomorrow.
Air Force One is expected to land in Salt Lake around 11 a.m. tomorrow. After that, it's nearly a 24-hour effort to drum up cash for both the Republican Party and its presumptive presidential nominee, John McCain.
Mitt Romney's Deer Valley vacation home will be home to one of President Bush's fundraisers tomorrow night. The ticket price to enter is more than $70,000 per couple.
Another fundraiser, again with President Bush at the helm, will be held in Salt Lake tomorrow afternoon, though ticket prices are reportedly substantially lower, at $10,000 a person. White House staff members and Secret Service agents were at the home this afternoon.
We asked the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to track money in politics and its effect on public policy, where all the money is going? Massie Ritsch said, "All of this money in Utah is going to come from individuals, and then it will be used by McCain, as well as national and state parties."
John McCain and the Republican Party need the cash to compete this November. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are far ahead of McCain in the race for cash. Obama alone raises three times the money McCain does, according to Federal Election Data.
So who's giving? Ritsch said, "The people who contribute to our political campaigns are not your average voters. They are a very elite group." Ritsch says that elite group hopes their money will buy them access. "Access that may help benefit them down the road. And a small investment now may pay off handsomely in the future."
But don't expect the money raised to help McCain's future campaigning in Utah. "The donors in Utah who are giving to this event may not realize the money is not going to stay in Utah. It's going to go to state parties in several battleground states, Utah would not be one of them," Ritsch said.
The President's stay means more than 100 law enforcement officers will be part of his security detail and will help manage traffic. The estimated cost of that could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, you may not be attending the fundraisers, but you'll end up paying for part of his visit.
While those events are going on to raise money for McCain and welcome President Bush to the state, another event is being planned to protest the president's administration. Former Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson organized them both.
"Given the record of egregious human rights violations, the deceit of this administration, we're asking all people of conscience to raise their voices and say this is not who we are," Anderson said.
President Bush will spend the night in Utah, and Thursday, before he leaves, he will meet with the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
E-mail: tpapanikolas@ksl.com
E-mail: lprichard@ksl.com
