ALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Seeking to pick up donations and Hispanic votes, George W. Bush began a campaign swing through Southern California yesterday with a stop in this desert GOP stronghold.
California Republicans pointed to the trip as proof that Bush hasn't written off the nation's most populous state, as many speculated when he tried to shut down his state campaign office after the primary. Bush eventually decided to keep the office open.
President Clinton won the state the past two elections.
''I think he is demonstrating a commitment to California by being there,'' said Brian Nestande, spokesman for Representative Mary Bono, Republican of California, who helped organize Bush's trip.
California has 54 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win, giving it the largest political pull in the nation.
Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic nominee, leads Bush by about 10 points in state polls. Bush has tried to bridge that gap by reaching out to California's Hispanics and distancing himself from former Republican Governor Pete Wilson, who alienated many minorities.
Bush was holding a rally at the Palm Springs airport, then attending a ritzy Rancho Mirage fund-raiser at the estate of billionaire philanthropist Walter Annenberg. About 50 couples were invited to attend the $25,000-per-couple event.
Today, Bush will visit a school in San Juan Capistrano before holding another fund-raiser in San Diego.
He planned to mark Cinco de Mayo, which marks Mexican independence, tomorrow in San Diego with Hispanic leaders.
Aides said Bush, who speaks Spanish, is courting Hispanic votes, arguing that immigrants will benefit especially from his programs to cut taxes and encourage entrepreneurship.
Bush has collected a record $80 million for his campaign and, just last week, helped raised a record $18 million at a single event for the Republican National Committee.
The presumptive GOP nominee's trip did not go unnoticed by the state's Democrats, some of whom planned a demonstration outside his rally.
