Bush a boon, not bust, for Steele camp

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A fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele headlined by President Bush amounted to one of the largest single-event moneymakers in the history of U.S. Senate campaigns in Maryland.

National and state Democratic Party officials, however, pan the Steele event as a flop.

The Steele campaign said the luncheon Wednesday at the Baltimore Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium drew about 600 guests and netted about $500,000 for the Republican candidate.

The last time a U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland raised that much money in one place was last year, when Sen. Barbara Mikulski staged a fundraiser at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and also brought in about $500,000.

"It is a silly notion that it is not somehow a success," Steele campaign spokesman Leonardo Alcivar said.

Still, Maryland Democratic Party spokesman Derek Walker called the take "disappointing" considering Mr. Bush was there to help raise money for Mr. Steele. The event brought in about $50,000 more than the president's appearance Tuesday in Denver for Rep. Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado, he said.

The Mikulski event last year featured fellow Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California. Most of about 1,000 guests purchased $250 tickets, though some paid as much as $1,000.

That fundraiser helped Miss Mikulski wage the most expensive Senate race in Maryland history. She spent nearly $6 million to beat Republican challenger state Sen. E.J. Pipkin, who spent about $2.3 million, including about $2 million of his own Wall Street fortune. Miss Mikulski won with 65 percent of the vote to Mr. Pipkin's 34 percent.

This year's contest for the open seat of retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, also a Baltimore Democrat, likely will cost more.

Mr. Steele's event with the president helped close the Prince George's County resident's fundraising gap with the Democratic front-runner, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore. The 10-term congressman had raised about $1.8 million to Mr. Steele's $418,000, according to campaign finance reports filed in September.

Most of the roughly 600 guests at Mr. Steele's fundraiser were admitted to the stadium with $125 tickets, though some bought $500 tickets and some paid $5,000 for a photograph with Mr. Bush.

"The reality is our event was aimed at ensuring the maximum number of people were able to listen to the president and to Michael Steele at a minimal financial cost," Mr. Alcivar said. "Anything to the contrary is totally baseless."

Mr. Walker pointed out that the president raised $1.4 million at an appearance Monday in Phoenix for Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona and $1.7 million at a June fundraiser for Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. However, Mr. Kyl and Mr. Santorum, like Mrs. Musgrave, are incumbents.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where two staffers resigned in September after obtaining Mr. Steele's confidential credit report, also criticized the Steele campaign's "low fundraising take" with Mr. Bush.

Committee spokesman Phil Singer said the president's fundraising appearances with Republican challengers in other states have been more successful. Mr. Bush last year helped raise $750,000 for the Senate race of Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington and $1.5 million for Richard M. Burr's campaign for Senate in North Carolina, he said.

Mr. Bush's appearance at a $1,250-a-plate dinner in October 2002 helped raise $1.8 million for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s successful campaign for Maryland governor.

Other campaign veterans consider $500,000 a hefty sum for a U.S. Senate race in Maryland. For two decades, Maryland voters consistently returned incumbent Democrats to the Senate. The Republicans have not had a truly competitive candidate for Senate since Sen. Charles McC. Mathias Jr. retired in 1986.

"It is more than I raised in an entire campaign," said Paul H. Rappaport, the Republican challenger to Mr. Sarbanes in 2000.

Mr. Rappaport, who raised about $160,000, lost with 37 percent of the vote to Mr. Sarbanes' 63 percent.

"To have the president of the United States come to Maryland to campaign for you is certainly a plus in my book," Mr. Rappaport said. "It doesn't matter if you are a Democrat or if you are a Republican or if you are an independent, he is the commander in chief."