Money talks. (See ePatriot button at left.)
"Most Republicans are referring to it as the Bush juggernaut," said GOP strategist Scott Reed.
As he did in the last campaign, Bush will lean heavily on the so-called Pioneers, the fundraisers who brought in at least $100,000 each in 2000. They will be asked to raise at least $200,000 each this time, Bush advisers said.
The Bush campaign once said there were 212 Pioneers. Forty-three of them received public jobs after the election, including 19 ambassadorships and two Cabinet posts, according to campaign watchdog groups. But documents recently made public show there were more than 500 Pioneers.
Oops! 500 versus 212. But who's counting?
And about that cornerstone (well, sorta):
James Zogby, a former Gore adviser who now is with the Arab American Institute, recalled that before the 2002 midterm elections, the White House successfully refocused the campaign on national security by initiating a debate over the invasion of Iraq. That gave Republicans an edge they used to take control of the Senate.
The Bush team appears poised to try a similar tactic in 2004, Zogby said, this time by playing up the memory of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The GOP is starting with an unusually late nominating convention in New York, not far from the World Trade Center site and just days before the third anniversary of the attacks.
Republican strategist Charlie Black, who worked for Bush's father, said the White House never would manipulate memories of Sept. 11 for political purposes. "That's a ridiculous charge," Black said.
Great. Now I'm all reassured, since up is down, black is white, ignorance is strength, and so forth.