President Bush gathered with his party faithful Tuesday night for a $15,000-a-couple dinner that the Republican National Committee reported raised at least $1 million.
The dinner was a 30th anniversary celebration for the Republican Eagles — donors who raise at least $15,000 a year. For their contributions, the 260 attendees dined on seared mignon of beef, received a commemorative paperweight and heard a speech from the commander in chief.
Bush promoted his second term agenda items of immigration, tax relief, budget cuts, energy, Social Security reform and changes to the medical malpractice laws. He urged Harriet Miers’, winning applause for a Supreme Court nominee who has drawn objections from conservatives.
On the day that the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reached 2,000, Bush said, “We’ll never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory in the war on terror.” Bush said Iraq is a central front in the fight against terrorism.
“Some say we ought to just pull out of Iraq. That is a foolhardy policy,” he said, earning him the one standing ovation to interrupt his speech.