Hightower Lowdown

George Bush wowed the pundits by raising $7.6 million for his presidential run in only a month's time without holding a single fund raiser or making any telephone calls. Bush's spin meisters proclaimed it a spontaneous outpouring of public support for Shrub, and the Guv declared himself "humbled" by the people's response.

Not mentioned by humble George is that more than 70% of his millions came in whacks of $1,000 and up. Also not mentioned is that he has some 200 corporate executives, lobbyists, developers, and Wall Street bankers committed to raising at least $100,000 each for him. He calls them "the pioneers." So all those checks from "the people" are not spontaneous, but aggressively solicited, and they are being funneled to Bush by a handful of corporate powerbrokers who will expect major rewards in return. And you can bet that bush would deliver generously to his "pioneer" presidential benefactors, just as he has done for his corporate cronies who put him in the governor's office.