Quietly, the two are working together to bolster McCain's campaign.
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - Behind closed doors this week, George W. Bush quietly hosted a fundraiser for John McCain that raised $3.5 million from about 500 Republican donors.
No cameras were allowed into the event, and the two were only captured on film together at the airport -- even then for just 27 seconds as they got into a car to be whisked to the exclusive event.
The Barack Obama campaign says a pattern is emerging.
"McCain is going to extraordinary lengths to conceal the fact that at the very foundation of his campaign -- its policy positions and now the money driving it -- is George W. Bush."
This Saturday is the financial reporting deadline for the month of May. It will be a test of whether millions of ordinary people giving whatever they can afford can go toe-to-toe with the Bush-McCain fundraising machine.
McCain has been rocked by several recent media reports that detail his association with undesirable political contacts who have alliances with the brutal dictatorship in Myanmar. That's just one problem. Another one of McCain's prominent team players, Rick Davis, "founded his own lobbying firm, and, according to the Politico, 'has made at least $2.8 million lobbying Congress since 1998.'"
Howard Dean called the McCain campaign out last week, saying that Charlie Black, McCain's chief political adviser, used his connections with George Bush and Dick Cheney to lobby administration officials for dozens of wealthy clients. He apparently has gotten away with that for more than seven years. The Washington Post reported that "Black said he does a lot of his work by telephone from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus."
Bush Helps McCain Draw $3.5 From Exclusive Crowd of 500Salem-News.com