Bush returns to the crime scene!!!

Bush stumps for Ohio governor candidate - Yahoo! News Bush stumps for Ohio governor candidate By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press WriterWed Aug 2, 7:12 PM ET President Bush, whose own popularity is just so-so, put the weight of his office behind the struggling candidacy of conservative Kenneth Blackwell, helping raise $1.5 million Wednesday for the Republican's campaign for governor. Bush won Ohio in 2004, but Republicans are facing a difficult political environment in this GOP-controlled state, which is trying to rebound from political scandal — and recent flooding. Last week, 10 inches of rain fell on northeastern Ohio, killing a man and forcing hundreds from their homes. On Tuesday, Bush declared Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties eligible for federal disaster relief. "The local response was really good," Bush said at Lake County Emergency Operation and Communication Center in Mentor where he stopped before going to the fundraiser. "The interoperability between various jurisdictions was superb. As a result, a lot of lives were saved." Bush, who spoke with dispatchers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and other emergency management officials, said the federal disaster declaration means individuals will be helped with rental assistance, temporary housing, grants to rebuild their homes and small business assistance. "It is now time to help people rebuild their lives," Bush said before taking a five-minute motorcade ride to the fundraiser, which was closed to reporters. Blackwell, the state's secretary of state, who has strong ties to Washington, is one of a handful of prominent black conservatives in the Republican Party, a group that the Bush administration has been courting. Blackwell, however, is running 20 percentage points behind Democrat Ted Strickland, a congressman from Lisbon in eastern Ohio, according to a recent poll by The Columbus Dispatch. Strickland received 47 percent of support compared with Blackwell's 27 percent in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Some people polled mentioned an investment scandal within the government, which led to a no contest plea from Republican Gov. Bob Taft for failing to report gifts. It also forced an overhaul of the investment operations of the state's fund for injured workers. Two brokers accused of bribing a former workers' compensation official are scheduled for trial in September. Meanwhile, a trial is scheduled in October for Tom Noe, a prominent GOP donor and coin dealer charged in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment he managed for the state fund. "Ken Blackwell will reap the benefits of a Republican fundraising machine that has led to a culture of corruption in Washington, D.C., and Columbus," said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. "This is the same pay-to-play culture that Tom Noe plead guilty to earlier this summer." Last month, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential 2008 presidential candidate, took a swipe at the Ohio secretary of state for his handling of the last presidential election. Without mentioning his name, Clinton suggested that Blackwell had a conflict of interest in overseeing Ohio's next election because he is running for governor. In 2004, Blackwell was the honorary co-chairman of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Ohio and secretary of state. Long lines and confusion marked the election in Ohio, the state that put Bush over the top in the Electoral College vote. It was Bush's sixth trip to Ohio this year. Bush, whose job approval rating in early July was at 36 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos poll, has visited Ohio twice to help Sen. Mike DeWine (news, bio, voting record)'s re-election campaign, but this is his first visit on Blackwell's behalf. The fundraiser, billed as a country reception, was being held at the Kirtland Hills home of businessman Ed Crawford. Tickets cost $1,000 a person; $1,500 per couple, and guests can get a photo with Bush for $10,000