GREENVILLE - President Bush plans a
campaign stop in South Carolina this fall to raise money for his
2004 re-election.
The $2,000-a-person Republican event, which will be held at the
Palmetto Exposition Center in Greenville, is expected to bring in
nearly $800,000 for Bush-Cheney 2004.
A date and other details have not been set. Neither the White
House nor the Bush-Cheney campaign would comment.
S.C. House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, went to
Washington this week to discuss the details of the fund-raiser with
campaign officials.
Vice President Dick Cheney spoke in Columbia on Monday at a
fund-raising lunch, which raised $300,000 for the president's
re-election campaign.
First lady Laura Bush will attend another Bush-Cheney fund-raiser
in October at the Florence home of Kate and Eddie Floyd, former
chairman of the University of South Carolina board of trustees.
In 2000, the Bush campaign raised more than $1.2 million in South
Carolina.
To date, Bush-Cheney has raised more than $35.1 million for the
2004 presidential campaign, according to records filed with the
Federal Election Commission.
Both Bush and Cheney have visited South Carolina several times
since the 2000 campaign.
Cheney was in Columbia in June 2002 to raise money for the party
and for then-U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, who ran a successful campaign
for the U.S. Senate seat held by Strom Thurmond.
The vice president traveled to Columbia on July 1 for Thurmond's
funeral. He also attended the funeral of U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence of
Lexington in 2001 and delivered the main eulogy.
Bush visited the state three times in 2002 to campaign for Graham
and Gov. Mark Sanford. He also delivered the May commencement
address at the University of South Carolina.