George W., in his quest to raise more money than any other presidential campaign in U.S. history – the old record was $100 million by Bush himself in the 2000 election – came to Columbus for a $2000-a-plate fundraiser on October 30. The SEIU, the Ohio Democratic Party, the Sierra Club, Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich for President supporters and others demonstrated against the Resident’s policies that have cost the nation over 3 million jobs, the worst performance since Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. The loss of jobs, the record half-a-trillion-dollar yearly deficit and the U.S. occupation of Iraq were the predominant issues of the protest.

One prominent local Republican told the Free Press that many Columbus GOP members did not “appreciate the President coming in so close to the election and sucking up all the Republican funds for his presidential campaign.”

But like Richard Nixon in 1972, you’ve got the follow the money which inevitably leads to Halliburton, the oil companies and the military industrial complex. Since the year 2000, Bush has swiftly moved our country from democracy to oligarchy to kleptocracy. The demonstrations are continuing to grow throughout the Midwest.