ASHINGTON - George W. Bush has some reasons to avoid Massachusetts. He resoundingly lost the state's Republican presidential primary; most people expect him to lose the state in the fall. And the Texas governor makes no secret of his disdain for the elite atmosphere he encountered at Harvard Business School.
All of which might make Bush's stop in Boston tonight seem odd, if it weren't for one fact: Massachusetts is a tempting place for Republicans to raise money, especially this year.
With so few local Republicans running for office, candidates from around the country have begun quietly vying to fill what they perceive as a fund-raising void, appealing to Boston-area business leaders and the booming high-tech industry for financial support.
More than a half-dozen Republican politicians, many little known in the state, have visited during the past year or have fund-raisers planned, all to benefit Senate and gubernatorial campaigns in other states, GOP advisers said.
Bush has already raised more than $1.75 million from Bay State donors and hopes to raise at least another $1 million tonight, charging $20,000 per couple at an undisclosed downtown Boston event. And in the heavily Democratic Boston area through March 31, Bush raised nearly twice as much as his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign funds.
Members of both parties have always brought in outsiders to raise money, of course, and Republican officials say they have been doing so increasingly since the administration of Governor William Weld. And Democrats still hold the lead in helping their party raise funds, thanks to the state's liberal base, political advisers said.
But this year, there appears to be a unique phenomenon at work: Unlike past elections, when outside Republicans came to town to help campaign for local GOP candidates, they are now looking to raise money for themselves.
''That money is kind of floating around here,'' said former congressman Peter Blute, a Republican who was voted out of office in 1996. ''There's not a lot of Republican activity. ... That's why there's a constant trip through here by politicians from out of state. They see the opportunity to raise pretty good money.''
One Republican Senate aide, who is already considering raising money in Boston for his candidate's 2002 race, said the lack of local candidates is his chief incentive. ''It's just sitting there, waiting to be picked,'' the aide, who requested anonymity, said of GOP donors in Massachusetts.
For Bush, who frequently teased Ivy League graduates and joked about his dislike of the liberal Northeast on the campaign plane during the primaries, the pickings have been especially lucrative.
His loss in the GOP primary to Senator John McCain was largely the result of a massive Democratic and independent crossover. Among Republicans, Bush was the favorite, a fact later reflected in his fund-raising success in the state.
''We may not be able to do our part by delivering the state's electoral votes to Governor Bush, but we'll do our part in other ways, and that includes raising money for Governor Bush,'' said the state's Republican National committeeman, Ron Kaufman, explaining the enthusiasm local Republicans have shown for aiding Bush.
Yet if that is a byproduct of a 50-state presidential fund-raising machine, what explains the efforts of Senator Spencer Abraham, a Michigan Republican, who raised thousands from Massachusetts high-tech leaders two weeks ago? Or Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, who raised money in the state earlier this spring? Or Florida Republican Representative Bill McCollum, one of the House managers of Clinton's impeachment trial, who is holding a fund-raiser later this month? Or Colorado Governor Bill Owens, another Republican, who is planning to raise money in the Bay State in a few weeks?
''Jack Robinson is going nowhere, so why should I waste money on that campaign?'' asked George Regan, a Boston public relations official, referring to Jack E. Robinson, the Republican entrepreneur who has suffered a series of embarrassments in his efforts to unseat Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
Regan, who said he donated money to New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, another Republican who held a Massachusetts fund-raiser before abandoning his US Senate bid, said he believes many donors will have the same idea he did: ''Why not get involved in the New York campaign, where I can make a difference?''
Massachusetts Republican leaders attribute the attentiveness of outside politicians to an array of factors, including the explosion of wealth in the technology and financial-services sectors in and around Boston, as well as the hospitality of Governor Paul Cellucci, who often lends his name to out-of-state fund-raisers. They deny a dearth of GOP candidates has created a jackpot for politicians elsewhere.
''It's a financial center,'' said Priscilla Ruzzo, a Republican fund-raiser in Boston. ''We have a lot of businesses here, and people are very active in politics.''
Kaufman agreed. ''You talk to any donor, and they have plenty of ways to spend their money, whether it's in Massachusetts or outside Massachusetts,'' he said, adding that many recent Republican visitors, including Oklahoma Representative J.C. Watts, Missouri Senator John Ashcroft, and Connecticut Representative Nancy Johnson, would have been warmly received no matter who was on the ballot.
Yet Ruzzo, who has arranged events for such outside politicians as Republican Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, concedes this year's unusual political landscape has changed the fund-raising dynamic. If there were more Republican candidates running for office within the state, she said, ''it would probably change the competition for dollars.''
