This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Just moments after addressing thousands of veterans today, President Bush is scheduled to rush across downtown to appear before possibly an even more loyal crowd.
Bush will address wealthy Republicans at a fundraiser for Sen. Orrin Hatch, which Hatch's Democratic opponent Pete Ashdown considers unnecessary and overly lavish.
But he can't challenge its effectiveness.
Hatch's campaign staff has sold more than 1,000 tickets to the $500-a-plate luncheon at the Grand America hotel, where Bush stayed the night.
"In the two weeks we had to really put this thing together, the support and the ticket purchases have been overwhelming," said Hatch's campaign manager Dave Hansen.
Not to be outdone, Ashdown held his own fundraiser Tuesday night at Salt Lake City's Alta Club that he called the "Feed the Hungry, Not the Politicians Dinner."
Ashdown spent $6,000 out of his own pocket to pay for the dinners of more than 160 people. In exchange, those people donated money to charities that help the homeless and the hungry. The event raised about $8,500 for a variety of groups including Utahns Against Hunger, the Utah Food Bank, the Crossroads Urban Center and the Salt Lake Inter-Faith Hospitality Network, among others. None of the money went to his campaign.
"I would like to see people who don't need the money give a little more effort to those who do need the money," Ashdown said, criticizing the Hatch fundraiser.
After expenses, Hansen estimates the Hatch fundraiser will scoop up at least $400,000. The money will go into Hatch's already bulging campaign coffers, which now hold more than $2.5 million.
Ashdown had less than $13,000 in his campaign account as of the June financial disclosures.
And Hatch is a big favorite, according to a Salt Lake Tribune poll commissioned last week. The poll of likely voters found that Hatch led Ashdown 61 to 27 percent, with 12 percent of respondents undecided.
With a big lead and a big bank account, Ashdown questions Hatch's need for the Bush-blessed luncheon.
He said he's "tired" of fundraisers where "politicians work to push their name out and nothing else."
Hatch has said Bush's willingness to hold the fundraiser is "a tremendous honor" and he would continue to raise funds just in case he needs to combat any campaign attacks from Ashdown or some outside group.
Hatch's camp did commend Ashdown for his Alta Club dinner to benefit charities.
"While we applaud what Pete Ashdown did, Senator Hatch has a very strong record in that area as well," Hansen said.
Hatch created the Utah Families Foundation in 1990, a nonprofit group now run by an independent board loaded with Hatch supporters.
The foundation recently held its annual golf fundraiser in Park City, raising nearly $500,000 that went to 53 Utah charities, mostly for women and children, said the foundation's president Carol Nixon.
Ashdown calls fundraising "a necessary evil for running a political campaign" - one that he will grudgingly continue to participate in.
He held a meet-and-greet at a supporter's house Wednesday evening.