George W. Bush is Coming to Town

by: The Real Leonard Lance

Thu Sep 18, 2008 at 10:12:08 AM EDT

Santa Claus might not be coming to town till December... But George W. Bush is coming this Monday.  And he is bringing a bag full of goodies for The Real Leonard Lance, since he's been such a good little boy trying to ensure his third term and legacy.

By inviting Bush in to help his campaign raise money from deep-pocketed right-wing Republicans, Lance is delivering a real slap in the face to New Jersey's families. Instead of fighting for the change we need, Leonard Lance is standing with the president whose policies have failed our nation.

The Real Leonard Lance and his fellow Bush Republicans have tried to hide this fundraiser from the public (just as Bush and Cheney tried to hide their secret dealings with oil companies). And that makes sense.  Wouldn't you be embarrassed to stand with arguably the worst president in our nation's history? Wouldn't you be ashamed to stand with a president who has turned record surpluses into record deficits, awarded tax breaks for Big Oil while we pay more at the pump, and squandered 3 trillion on a war in Iraq that should never have been waged?

So, it's understandable that Lance is trying to bring Air Force One in under the radar. Let's not forget Bush's historic unpopularity. Just last week, the Fairleigh Dickinson-PublicMind poll put Bush's approval ratings in New Jersey at an anemic 22%. And poll director Peter Woolley told the AP it was no surprise Lance was hiding the event, adding "everybody handles an unpopular president with hospital gloves on." (The AP story is on our website here.)

Obviously, Leonard Lance knows the risk involved with inviting George W. Bush to the Garden State.  But, he's weighed this risk against the need to fill his campaign coffers in light of his message turning off folks all across the 7th District.  So, he is taking a calculated gamble by bringing in the unpopular President to drum up some much-needed cold, hard cash.

He's trying to hide the association, but really, why should he?  Because the Real Leonard Lance's record marches in lock-step with the directives coming out of the White House. The Real Leonard Lance supports the failed Bush agenda and would go to Washington to simply offer more of the same. The Real Leonard Lance says nothing about tax breaks for Big Oil and votes to ship jobs overseas. The Real Leonard Lance opposes "artificial" timelines for withdrawal in Iraq, while we continue to spend $10 billion a month. And the Real Leonard Lance voted for the biggest budgets in state history that saddled New Jersey in debt and created the financial crisis we're in today. All the while, this self-styled "fiscal conservative" voted to raise his own pay 40%.

The Real Leonard Lance knows we want and need real change.  And he knows voters are learning that he is doing all he can do to secure a third term for Bush. And that's why he was hoping you wouldn't find out about next week's fundraiser with President Bush.