Barbara Bush helps raise campaign cash for Rep. Sodrel

SELLERSBURG, Ind. — As a resident of Louisville, Ky., Dottie Frank can't even vote for Indiana Republican Rep. Mike Sodrel.\nBut she likes Sodrel and \ntraveled 20 miles north on Tuesday to attend a fundraiser featuring former first lady Barbara Bush that the Sodrel campaign said netted $50,000. Bush's appearance was delightful, Frank said.\n"She has always been such a sweetheart," she said.\nBush said Sodrel had immersed himself in matters crucial to the country, including job creation, eliminating the inheritance tax, making previous tax cuts permanent and backing legislation to promote alternative fuels.\nShe also said that although Sodrel, like everyone, wants American troops now in Iraq to return home, "he also knows we cannot cut and run."\n"Mike Sodrel is as close to a 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' as you can get," Bush told about 230 people at Fuzzy Zoeller's Covered Bridge Golf Course. "It is very important that we give him a chance to stay in Washington and finish what he started. Electing Mike is selfishly, hugely important to me."\nSodrel, the millionaire owner of a Jeffersonville-based trucking company, is in his third consecutive campaign against former Democratic Rep. Baron Hill in southern Indiana's 9th district. Hill won their first match in 2002, but Sodrel won the 2004 election by fewer than 1,500 votes.\nSodrel remained in Washington and did not attend Tuesday's event hosted by Bill and Teresa Boyd, the latter a friend of Sodrel's \nwife, Ketaw.\nIt was yet another big name to stump for Sodrel, as separate fundraising visits by President Bush and first lady Laura Bush netted about $700,000. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, and GOP congressional leaders have also helped Sodrel raise money.\nFormer President Bill Clinton held a fundraiser for Hill in July that his campaign said brought in about $250,000.\nAbby Curran, a spokeswoman for Hill's campaign, said Barbara Bush's visit was the latest in a parade of national Republicans to stump for Sodrel and a sign that he was in "serious trouble."\n"Mike Sodrel continues to hope that his friends in Washington will come visit his district to bail him out," she said.\nThe Sodrel-Hill race could be among the hardest-fought nationwide as Democrats try to gain control of the U.S. House. A new poll released Tuesday for Indianapolis television station WISH found Hill had a 46 percent to 40 percent lead over Sodrel. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.\nCampaigns in the neighboring 8th District and the South Bend area's 2nd District are also considered to be key races.\nHill and Sodrel are each airing television commercials. Sodrel had raised about $1.74 million and had $1.13 million left as of June 30, according to Political Money Line, a nonpartisan clearing house for fundraising and lobbying data. Hill had raised about $1.17 million and had nearly $968,000 as of June 30.\nLibertarian Eric Schansberg is also running for the 9th District seat.\nThe cost for Barbara Bush's fundraiser was $250 a couple. Several people paid $1,500 to attend an exclusive reception and have their photos taken with Bush. She spoke earlier Tuesday in Connecticut on behalf of Rep. Chris Shays and has held a fundraiser for a congressional candidate in Vermont.