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Share ThisSep 24, 2008
Philadelphia Inquirer - Bush visits N.J. for fund-raiser for 2 candidates
COLTS NECK, N.J. - President Bush took some time off yesterday from the global financial crisis to help a couple of New Jersey congressional candidates with financial crises of their own.
The president attended a fund-raiser in this wealthy Monmouth County community for Republican candidates Chris Myers, the mayor of Medford, and Leonard Lance, a state senator from Hunterdon County. Myers and Lance are being lapped by Democratic opponents in the money race for a pair of open seats.
Though Bush is more unpopular in New Jersey than the nation as a whole, both campaigns took the gamble that money raised from a Bush event would outweigh Democrats' criticism.
And criticize they did.
Shortly before 1 p.m., about 30 protesters carrying signs reading "McSame = No Change" showed up at the tree-lined intersection of Route 34 and Willow Brook Road in rural Colts Neck.
Police kept protesters and the media a safe distance from the 50-acre Gutierrez estate, where the fund-raiser was held under a backyard tent.
Across the state in Trenton, Democrats staged a news conference to criticize the event. But that wasn't good enough for one of their candidates, Josh Zeitz, who's running in the Fourth District in central Jersey against U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.).
After the Trenton news conference, he got in his car and "drove fast" to Colts Neck to address the protesters, saying "George Bush doesn't drop into the Fourth District unless he wants to take money out of it."
New Jersey GOP Chairman Tom Wilson said Democrats criticizing Bush for coming to New Jersey in the midst of a financial crisis were "silly."
"The world doesn't stop for any single issue. The president has shown leadership" on the economic crisis he said, adding that Bush is staying on top of problems.
As many as 300 were invited to the lunchtime fund-raiser and ticket prices were set as high as $123,200 a couple because invitees were asked to contribute to the two candidates' campaigns as well as other Republican Party campaign funds.
The seats Lance and Myers now seek have historically been held by Republicans, but both Jim Saxton, of the Third District, and Mike Ferguson, of the Seventh District, announced their retirements last year.
Myers, one of the beneficiaries of yesterday's fund-raiser, got into a spat over the event with his opponent, state Sen. John Adler (D., Camden). Adler has more than $1 million in cash on hand, to Myers' $155,000, according to the latest campaign finance reports.
Adler said Myers' appearance with the president was an "insult to the hard-working people of this district." Myers shot back that Adler was a "shameless hypocrite" who had taken campaign contributions from executives of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers and Fannie Mae, recently bailed out by the government.
The contribution amounted to $1,500, and Adler's campaign manager, Mark Warren, said Myers has scheduled a fund-raiser hosted by a former lobbyist for the now failed Freddie Mac, also bailed out by the government.
Myers said he would not be influenced by contributers or his president, noting he's disagreed with Bush policies. So did the protesters who commented on the clear, warm weather in between holding up signs for passing motorists to see.
On the sidelines, away from the protesters, stood Sue and Ben McCormack, of Point Pleasant. While Sue McCormack considers herself an independent, she came to get a glimpse of Bush because "I support Bush. He's a good man."
Her feelings are personal. Her son worked near the World Trade Center when the towers were hit by terrorists, and he survived. She said she believed Bush has kept the country safe since then.
But McCormack never got a glimpse of the president, whose helicopter landed and took off far away from roadside onlookers.
