Hightower Lowdown

“United we stand,” cries George W. as he hurls himself into the war effort! “God Bless America,” shouts Dick Cheney as he girds himself for the combat ahead!

Are the president and the veep going to the front lines in the battle against the terrorism? Not exactly. Instead they are engaged in the political fund-raising wars here on the homefront.

Now that the ban on unregulated “soft money” has finally been passed, both the Republican and Democratic parties are mounting all-out pushes to raise as much of this corrupting special-interest money as they can get their fat little fingers around before the ban goes into effect on November 6.

The commander-in-chief’s war plan calls for him to headline two fund-raising events every week for the next few months. Asked if he thought using his war popularity for such a crass political purpose as sacking-up campaign cash was appropriate, he smirked and said: “Yes, I do.”

The elusive V.P., rarely seen in public these days, is surfacing to do two sorties a week in the fund-raising war.

Democrats are out there, too. Last month they took in the largest donation in the history of politics—a single check for $7 million from a Hollywood billionaire. They snagged another one for $5 million in the same week.

Isn’t it good to know that bipartisanship is alive and well in Washington?