Money for Nothing

George Bush was in Maryland doing what he does best: humping money from loyal GOP supporters for the Maryland Republican Party. And he appeared to have done the job well, raising a million bucks in one night for the state GOP.

While many Republicans up for re-election this fall have choosen to inch away from Bush and his historically poor approval rating, Ehrlich had no qualms about appearing with Bush for some glad-hand smiling in front of a loylist crowd. I expect those who could plop down $8000 for a plate at one of the tables probably are fairly well inoculated against Bush's viral economic depredations and probably think he's been doing a "heck of a job."

Of course, as it oftens does when Bush speaks, irony made a grand appearance that night as Bush praised Ehrlich's fiscal performance as governor of the state, claiming that Ehrlich was responsible for the current budget surplus while also preventing new taxation. I won't get into whether Ehrlich can stake sole claim to this but the sight of Bush proudly applauding Maryland's budget surplus had to have been somewhat disorienting, even to a partisan crowd of $8K-a-plate Republicans.