Bush Fundraising Goes Private

MSNBC notes that much of President Bush's fundraising effort this season involves "events with little or no press coverage in GOP-friendly areas." For example, on Wednesday he appeared at a private event for the re-election campaign of Sen. George Allen (R-VA).

The Washington Post points out that "[o]n one of the scariest days yet in the five-year war with terrorists" the President had "jetted north for a previously scheduled closed-door fundraiser."

No press plane accompanied him. So when news broke that Britain had foiled a major terrorist plot, the only people there to convey the president's reaction were a handful of local reporters and a few pool journalists who ride in the back of Air Force One...

Since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, presidents traditionally have taken journalists with them wherever they traveled on the theory that when it comes to the most powerful leader on the planet, anything can happen at any time.

But increasingly in recent months, Bush has left town without a chartered press plane, often to receptions where he talks to donors chipping in hundreds of thousands of dollars with no cameras or tapes to record his words for the public.

The White House bills the media when reporters travel with the president. The bill for a one-day trip to St. Louis was $3,317 and $3,795 to Yuma, AZ. Two-days to Europe, sans hotel: $8,283.

A year-and-a-half ago, Salon asserted that the Bush Administration had been "at war" with the press since "Day One." From hiring columnists under the table to the use of questionable Video News Releases (VNRs) as well as military-planted "news" in Iraq, the tactics have come under fire from the GAO as well as watchdog groups.

Also, see White House Defends VNR Use, FCC Investigates Bush Administration Use of Fake News, Covert Propaganda: GAO Report, Middle East Propaganda Effort Detailed, More News About Faux News