Bush boosts apologetic senator

Posted by David Lerman and Mark Silva at 7:55 pm CDT

President Bush headlined a private fundraiser this evening for Virginia's Sen. George Allen, raising thousands of dollars for a re-election campaign that was rattled last week by charges of racial insensitivity.

With Republican control of the U.S. Senate at risk in November, Bush took a 15-minute helicopter ride from the White House to the Army's Fort Belvoir and then a motorcade to the Fairfax County home of Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman who now serves as treasurer of Allen’s leadership political action committee. The long-planned fundraiser, closed to the press, came hours after Allen personally apologized to Democratic challenger James Webb’s young campaign volunteer of Indian descent whom Allen had called "macaca.''

Ten days after news of the remark shook Allen’s campaign and buoyed Democrats’ hopes of picking up a Senate seat, the senator continued to try to contain the political fallout by placing a personal telephone call to S.R. Sidarth, the Webb volunteer. "He wanted to apologize for his comments,” Sidarth said, recounting his brief phone conversation with the senator today. ``I’m still a little bit unsure as to why it took so long for him to get in touch with me. But in the end, he did the right thing.”

Allen said he had hoped to apologize in person whenever he saw Sidarth again on the campaign trail. But Sidarth, a Fairfax County native, has since returned to the University of Virginia to begin his senior year.

``When he learned that he had gone back to UVA, Senator Allen decided to phone him personally,” said Allen campaign spokesman Bill Bozin.

The ongoing effort to repair the political damage of the ``macaca” stumble underscores the potential of the incident to shake up a Senate race that many pundits considered to be relatively safe for Republicans this fall. Two recent telephone surveys suggested Allen’s lead over Webb has since narrowed, perhaps to single digits, though Allen aides dispute such claims.

Democrats called on Bush to condemn Allen’s remarks publicly.

``By staying silent, the president—who fancies himself a man of integrity—is giving tacit approval to comments that have no place in the public discourse,” said Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ``But even worse, the president’s decision to host a fundraiser for Allen sends a signal that the senator’s actions were acceptable.”

The White House on Tuesday had discounted such criticism, noting Allen has since apologized for his remarks.

`I was asked earlier if the president had qualms about attending,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters Tuesday. ``The answer is, `No.’ “

The fundraiser promised to yield big money for Allen, who already swamps Webb in finances. Allen had more than $6.6 million in the bank for his campaign as of last month, compared to less than $500,000 for Webb.

The fundraiser also demonstrated the relatively close ties between the Bush White House and Allen, who is exploring a possible 2008 presidential campaign, assuming he wins re-election this fall.

Gillespie, who was chairman of the RNC under Bush, now runs Allen’s Good Government for America Committee, a leadership PAC that could be used to finance a future presidential race. In addition, Republican strategist Mary Matalin, a veteran Bush advisor, has signed on as treasurer for the Allen Victory Committee, which will assist the senator in get-out-the-vote efforts this fall.

After Marine One, the presidential helicopter, landed at Fort Belvoir late this afternoon, Bush boarded a motorcade for a short ride to Gillespie's home. Gillespie lives in a brick house with a high, sloping roof and white columns, with a circular drive in an affluent enclave of homes.

Allen's specially painted "Listening Tour 2006" bus was parked nearby. But a small pool of reporters who accompanied the president on the trip to the closed fundraiser were held in a neighbor's basement across the street as Bush spent about an hour in Gillespie's house.

A few signs were displayed along the motorcade route, mostly of the supportive variety. One guy watching the motorcade pass wore a "Run Against Bush" T-shirt.

Bush was back at the White House by 6 pm CDT.

David Lerman reports for The Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Va., a Tribune Co., newspaper, Mark Silva reports for the Tribune and a pool reporter assigned to the president's daily travels today, Julie Mason, of the Houston Chronicle, contributed to this report.