The most popular Bush living in the White House is in Iowa today, helping two GOP congressional candidates raise cash for their campaigns.
President Bush’s approval rating in Iowa stood at 41 percent in mid-September according to a Des Moines Register Iowa Poll. That poll did not measure the popularity of his wife, First Lady Laura Bush, but national polls have shown she is among the most admired political figures of the day with an approval rating above 60 percent. And while Democrats organize counter-protests when President Bush appears in Iowa, there’s none of that today.
The First Lady is giving her time today to speak at fundraisers for Mike Whalen, the Republican candidate in Iowa’s first congressional district, and Jeff Lamberti, the Republican running in Iowa’s third district. Back in 2004, Mrs. Bush campaigned frequently in Iowa on her her husband’s behalf, making almost about a dozen stops on her own or at his side. Governor Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, has said the appearances Mrs. Bush made in Iowa helped her husband beat Democrat John Kerry in Iowa by about 10,000 votes.