MINNEAPOLIS Bush raises $1M for GOP candidate

The president's popularity is increasing, a new poll says.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
MINNEAPOLIS -- President Bush showed Friday that he remains a potent fund-raiser despite low poll ratings, bringing in more than $1 million for a GOP candidate for Senate.
Bush appeared at a $1,000-a-plate luncheon for Rep. Mark Kennedy, R-Minn., who is running for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Mark Dayton. Kennedy, the likely GOP nominee, could face any of several Democrats seeking that party's nomination.
Bush has raised about $52 million in the past year at 16 political fund-raisers, according to Tracey Schmitt, Republican National Committee spokeswoman.
Results of new poll
The Minneapolis event came as one public opinion poll showed that more Americans approve of the job Bush is doing, although his approval rating remains relatively low.
The AP-Ipsos poll found Bush's approval rating had risen to 42 percent, its highest level since the summer and up from 37 percent in November.
Still, 57 percent of respondents disapproved of Bush's job performance. That was down from 61 percent in November. The poll of 1,002 adults was conducted Dec. 5-7 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Speaking at a hotel here, Bush rejected the idea of setting a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq.
"I think it's the wrong policy, and so does Mark Kennedy," he said. "A fixed timetable of withdrawal would embolden the enemy, would confuse the Iraqis, and would send the wrong signal to our young men and women in uniform."
Bush has been trying to shore up support among the American public for the war in Iraq. He will give two speeches on the issue next week, in advance of Thursday elections in Iraq to choose a permanent government.
"We will defeat the terrorists in Iraq," the president said Friday.
"We will not let Al-Qaida take a stronghold -- get a stronghold in Iraq. We'll help this country develop a democracy, which will send a powerful signal to people in Damascus and Tehran," he said, referring respectively to Syria and Iran.
Praising Mark Kennedy, Bush said: "This is a Kennedy I can work with." The comment was a poke at Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., the liberal icon, who is no relation to the Minnesota candidate.
Bush and Sen. Kennedy worked closely to enact the No Child Left Behind Act, but they have parted ways since on a host of issues, among them tax policy and the Iraq war.
A White House spokesman said Bush intended to campaign actively in the coming year for GOP candidates throughout the country.