Bush Meets With Elite Republican High Rollers - Pickles begging too

WASHINGTON - For the third time in less than a month, President Bush (news - web sites) sat down with the Republican Party's biggest donors Wednesday, thanking them for their donations — and hoping they will open their checkbooks for him again.


Meanwhile, Bush sent his wife to Georgia to collect cash for his re-election campaign.


The president attended a private "donor maintenance" lunch with high-rolling contributors inside a historic Washington home. It was impossible to say exactly who was in the room with him, or what was said, because reporters were forced to wait outside the event while he mingled. Most of Bush's fund-raisers are open to the news media. snip

Bush's audience Wednesday: the RNC's Team 100, a roster of donors who have given at least $25,000 during the most recent two-year election cycle; and the "Regents," donors who have contributed $50,000.

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