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Bush visit about money, won't hurt Hutchinson, observers say Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 By James Jefferson Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - The one thing Republican Asa Hutchinson can count on from today's scheduled visit by George Bush is money for his gubernatorial campaign, political observers said Tuesday. A bump in stature among key independent voters may be too much to expect from a widely unpopular president whose job approval rating has dipped below 40 percent even in Arkansas, a state Bush carried handily in two presidential elections, observers said. The president is scheduled to make a brief stop here for a $500 per person luncheon on behalf of Hutchinson, Bush's former federal Drug Enforcement Administration director and undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security. About 800 people are expected to attend the event to be held at the home of former Arkansas Razorback and NBA basketball player Joe Kleine. The Hutchinson campaign and the state Republican Party will share the proceeds, said Hutchinson spokesman David Kinkade, who did not have a specific breakdown Tuesday. Hutchinson faces Democrat Mike Beebe, the state attorney general, in the Nov. 7 general election, and Republicans said Bush's visit would at least stir the party faithful. Hutchinson raised more money than Beebe in July - $262,907 to $225,226 - for the first time in any monthly reporting period during the campaign but trails Beebe in total contributions $4.3 million to $2.3 million. "Even the most disappointed of the president's supporters wants the party and its candidates to win next time," said Republican Margaret Scranton of Little Rock, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Ann Clemmer of Bryant, also a UALR political science professor, said having the president campaign for a former administration official in his home state is better for Hutchinson than to not have Bush come and risk the appearance of being snubbed. "If the president didn't come in, how would that look?" said Clemmer, a former GOP state committeewoman and a Bush delegate to the 2000 National Republican Convention. "President Bush did carry the state and there are people out there for whom he is still a beloved figure," she said. "If it will make more of those people write a nice check to Asa, that's good for Asa. To get the president to come in is still a big deal." Bush received 55 percent of the Arkansas vote in his re-election victory just two years ago, but his approval rating has dipped to 36 percent in the state, according to results of an Arkansas News Bureau-Stephens Media poll released last week. The latest Newsweek magazine poll also showed the president's approval rating nationally at 36 percent. Robert L. Savage of Fayetteville, a Democrat and political science professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas, said Bush's numbers don't help Hutchinson with voters he needs - independents. "If it weren't for Republican voters, imagine how low Bush's ratings would be," Savage said. "Given that one of the reasons why the president's ratings are so low is that independent voters are not particularly fond of Bush at the moment, I don't see how that can help Hutchinson. We could say that it might even hurt him, except that local races really don't depend on what's going on at the higher level." However, Skip Rutherford, a close friend of former President Bill Clinton and a key political ally for years in Clinton campaigns in Arkansas, said bringing the president in is a smart move for Hutchinson's campaign. "Anytime you get a president to come to visit with you, you do it," said Rutherford, now dean of the Clinton School of Public Service. "In addition to raising money, it's about energizing your base, and at this stage of the game, both are important. If it can build enthusiasm for the base, then Asa Hutchinson is smart to bring in George Bush, just like Mike Beebe is smart to bring Bill Clinton to town." Clinton is scheduled to appear at a Beebe fundraiser on Sept. 7 in Little Rock. |
