Bush fundraises in Edison for state GOP Presidential visit helped raise $675K for party's state races BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer EDISON - While the time spent on the ground was short for President George W. Bush on Wednesday, his fundraising arm was long, raising about $675,000 for the struggling state GOP coffers. The president spent less than three hours in the Garden State, where his approval rating has dipped to 25 percent, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll, but was received by a vibrant crowd of 700 supporters at the New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center, who paid as much as $5,000 for a photo with the president. "Last time I was in Jersey there was a lot of heckling as well," Bush told the crowd, some yelling their love for the president, "good heckling. I love you too." The event was sponsored by the New Jersey Republican Committee in conjunction with state Sen. Leonard Lance and Assemblyman Alex DeCroce. The president threw his support behind the two state minority leaders, saying he hoped to see them become the majority leaders in November's election. PHOTOSBY JEFF GRANIT staff President George W. Bush addressed Republican supporters at a fundraiser sponsored by the New Jersey Republican Committee on May 30. The president helped raise $675,000 for Republican candidates at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison. DeCroce said the president's visit "underscored his commitment to the Republican Party in New Jersey." "We will definitely take back the Senate and work awfully hard to retrieve the Assembly," DeCroce said. Bush said he hoped his visit would be the ignition needed for the GOP to sweep the state's two houses this November as well as "laying the ground work for a very important election in '08." "It is important that a Republican succeed me as President of the United States," Bush said. The last Republican elected to an upper-tier position in New Jersey was Gov. Christine Todd Whitman more than a decade ago. The Statehouse has been in the Democratic Party's hands since 2005, and the last Republican presidential candidate to win New Jersey was the first President Bush. The president had not visited New Jersey since last September when he stumped for U.S. Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. in his challenge of Sen. Bob Menendez. Most of the president's 27-minute speech focused on national issues such as the economy, defense, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and America's role in the world. He reaffirmed his stance on fighting terrorism by invoking the effect the 9/11 terrorist attacks had on New Jersey. "I vowed on that day that I would use all U.S. assets to do what was necessary to protect the American people," Bush said. Bush spoke about the need for a strong national defense to counter terrorists abroad, calling them killers of the innocent and haters of America and its allies. "The only way to deal with these people is to stay on the offense," Bush said, "fight them overseas so we don't have to fight them here." With the war in Iraq becoming increasingly divisive at home and the president's support for the war dwindling on both sides of the aisle in Congress, Bush reaffirmed his decision for the Iraq war and the troop surge. He said that America needs to help the fledgling democracies, a comment directed at the current pushes by the Democratic-controlled Congress to impose a timetable for troop withdrawal. "The short-term strategy is to bring people to justice - is to keep the pressure on," Bush said. "The long-term strategy is to defeat their ideology with a more hopeful ideology, and that is the ideology based upon liberty." President Bush emphasized the need for smaller government and making his tax cuts permanent as a way to stimulate economic growth. He said that a balanced budget was capable while lowering taxes because more money in the people's pockets means a greater chance for growth. The more growth America has, the greater the amount of taxes. "If you want the American people to do better, you cut the taxes," Bush said, "that's what you do." Arguably the most progressive policy espoused by the president on Wednesday was his announcement that he would allocate $30 billion for HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa, an area of the world especially hard hit by the disease. He made the announcement earlier that day in the Rose Garden. Bush said that the number of Africans being treated with anti-retroviral medication has jumped from 50,000 to 1.5 million since 2003. "The soul of America is enriched when we help those who need help," Bush said. While the president's visit was short, the effect was more than what the state GOP had expected. Todd Riffle, director of communications and research for the New Jersey Republican Committee, said that the fundraiser was more of a success than they had expected and that the event went over well with the public. "We got positive feedback from many who attended," Riffle said. Not everyone was as enthused with the president's visit. As the motorcade traveled through Edison, many people were on the side of the road holding signs protesting the war in Iraq and some of the president's other policies. One group, N.J. Citizen Action, held a rally that boasted 200 people and special guests Congressman Frank Pallone (D-6) and state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-18). They could be heard chanting as the motorcade passed. Not all of the sign holders were against the president, however. One man held a sign that read "Illegal Aliens Belong in Outer Space."