05/19/2006

By SONJA BARISIC  / Associated Press

President Bush was to attend an invitation-only, $5,000-a-plate luncheon Friday to raise money for U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, a first-term Republican who chose to remain in Washington for what a campaign aide called an important vote.

Drake's campaign manager said she planned to vote on a military appropriations bill.

"Given a choice between attending a fundraiser and doing her job in support of the military she has to go with the military every time," Tim Murtaugh said.

Bush's visit comes at a time when national polls, including a recent AP-Ipsos poll, show only a third of the public approves of the president's job performance, the lowest rating of his presidency.

"If I were her opponent, I would just be salivating at the chance to get just one picture of her with the president," Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University, said of Drake.

"I'm not even sure Bush can help in Republican districts around the country right now," Rozell said. "I would suspect that there are going to be a lot of Republican candidates this year sending a message to the White House that they actually don't want a presidential visit in their district."

Murtaugh said her district, with its strong military presence, is different from most districts nationwide.

"Any time you can have the leader of the free world and the commander-in-chief come to help you in a campaign, that is an obvious positive," Murtaugh said.

Drake represents the Republican-leaning 2nd District, which includes Virginia Beach, the Eastern Shore and parts of Norfolk and Hampton. She won the seat in 2004 with 55 percent of the vote, and Bush carried the district with 58 percent of the vote during the presidential election that year.

Drake is being challenged by Philip J. Kellam, commissioner of revenue in Virginia Beach, a conservative city that Democratic Gov. Timothy R. Kaine narrowly won in last year's gubernatorial race.

She's already the target of television ads by liberal political group MoveOn.org that accuse her of protecting her oil company contributors from tougher laws against price gouging.

Friday's event at the home of developer Bob Stanton, in the Bayville Golf Club at the end of a private road, was closed to the public and media.

At least three groups planned demonstrations nearby, including a pro-Bush rally by local Republicans.

This is the second time a top Republican has visited Hampton Roads to help Drake. Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at a February dinner in Norfolk that raised more than $200,000.