BUSH DOES FUNDRAISERS FOR GOP CANDIDATES IN TENNESSEE AND ARKANSAS-- BUT NO PICTURES

Where are the photos? Don't Hutchinson and Corky want photos of themselves with El Presidente for their websites and their glossy mailers and their TV spots? But so far the only Republican willing to pose with Bush on this trip down South was his old friend and confidante on the right. According to tomorrow's Washington Post Bush rushed around the border states helping walking-dead right wingers raise money for their campaigns. First he did a very private-- no cameras allowed-- fundraiser for far right fanatic Asa Hutchinson, who is waging a pointless battle against popular Arkansas Attorney General and soon-to-be-governor Mike Beebee. And then he zipped over to Nashville to scrape together some cash for the Rove-inspired smear ads Corky is planning to unleash on Harold Ford, Jr.

And although Corky was careful to make sure he wasn't photographed with the highly toxic Bush, he has already run a terrible campaign that has allowed Ford to turn the race into a referendum on Bush's war in Iraq.

"The Tennessee Senate race is shaping up as one of the most interesting this year, with Ford mounting a fierce effort to become the first African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the Senate from the South. Tennessee is a conservative state, and political analysts here say Bush's popularity has not fallen as steeply as it has in other states." [Well, it hasn't fallen as steeply as it has in states in the Northeast but Bush's 58% August disapproval rating is pretty high-- and apparently so are the "political analysts" The Post invented for this paragraph.]

"But Ford has been making inroads by stressing moderate positions on social and fiscal issues. He has supported the war in Iraq but told the Nashville Tennessean this week that he does not share a 'stay the course' philosophy with the president. On Corker's campaign Web site, he says: 'We must complete our mission in Iraq, supporting the new emerging democratic government until Iraqi forces are prepared to defend their country'... John G. Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University who specializes in campaign advertising, said Ford is trying to 'turn the race into a referendum on the president, and some of Corker's moves have played into this,' including Wednesday night's fundraiser.