BUSH IN THE BAY AREA TODAY TO HELP BUCHANAN

President Bush will be in West Central Florida today for a fundraising event to help GOP congressional candidate Vern Buchanan. The GOP candidate has been behind in recent polls against Democratic challenger Christine Jennings, and in what has been a close and incredibly negative race, Buchanan is hoping that the chief executive's appearance will give him a needed boost both in voter and financial support.

The two candidates are seeking the 13th Congressional District seat being vacated by Republican and U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris. Almost every TV ad has been negative, with Jennings attacking Buchanan's personal and business ethics while the Republican attempts to label Jennings as a hard core liberal without actually using the word. Last week I saw the first positive ad of the campaign, a Jennings piece.

What surprises me about this event is that usually when the Prez comes to town, it's a big money event...don't even consider RSVPing without a few thousand bucks in the bank account to spare. Today's fundraiser is only $20 per person at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Convention Center. So he's gone down that far, eh?