Bush fundraising visit to Tucson raises partisan eyebrows

President Bush will visit Tucson this month to host a fundraiser for Republican congressional candidate Tim Bee, but Bee's campaign and the White House are staying quiet about the event.

An invitation prepared by the Bee campaign says the morning event will be held July 18, marking Bush's fourth visit to Tucson and his first since late 2005.

Talk has been running through political circles for several weeks that Bush would be paying a visit for Bee, and as the invitation circulated Thursday, both sides speculated on how the visit by an unpopular president - though one who has proved himself a prolific fundraiser - might affect Bee's chances in one of the nation's most-watched congressional races.

Tom Dunn, Bee's campaign spokesman, said Thursday that he could not confirm or deny that the event was planned. A White House spokesman said the president's schedule for the week had not been released.

Bee, president of the state Senate, is running for the U.S. House against first-term Democratic incumbent Gabrielle Giffords in Congressional District 8, which includes much of the Tucson area as well as southeastern Arizona.

According to the invitation, a breakfast will be hosted by auto dealer Jim Click and former National Rifle Association President Sandy Froman, among others, and will take place at the home of Jackie and William Bell.

The invitation doesn't include a price for the fundraiser, but it says the money will be divided among the Bee campaign, the Pima County Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee.

Bush's last visit to Arizona was in May in Phoenix to raise funds for Sen. John McCain, the expected GOP presidential nominee.

That event was private, and the McCain campaign sought to keep it low-profile.

Although Bush's approval ratings hover around 30 percent in most polls, the president remains a powerful fundraiser, and the McCain event was said to have generated millions.

However, Republican strategists have warned congressional candidates such as Bee to distance themselves from Bush, given his low popularity.

In a memo in May, Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, a high-ranking House Republican, called 2008 the worst year for Republicans since Watergate - and blamed much of that on Bush.

"The Republican brand is in the trash can," Davis wrote at the time.

Bee has distanced himself from Bush when asked how the president's low approval ratings might affect his chances.

"I'm running on my own record, not the president's record," he said in May.

Emily DeRose, spokeswoman for the Arizona Democratic Party, called the fundraiser "a deal with the devil."

"There are places where you take a stand," she said.

GOP strategist Alberto Gutier called the fundraiser a "good move" for Bee.

"Bee's a Republican. George Bush is a Republican. Republican candidates help each other in raising money," Gutier said. "With all due respect to Gabrielle Giffords, that's the way it is."