Bush in Colorado on Thursday

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 30, 2008 at 1:11 p.m.
Updated January 30, 2008 at 2:33 p.m.

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President Bush will be in Colorado Thursday at a private fundraiser for Senate candidate Bob Schaffer.

Bill Pauls, a force behind the Denver Tech Center, and his wife, Verna, are hosting the event at their Cherry Hills Village home.

In response to the visit, a Democratic political group has launched a new video, calling Schaffer "Big Oil Bob."

The Pauls have contributed $139,000 to GOP candidates and causes since 1993, according to opensecrets.org, which calls itself a guide to money in U.S. elections.

In 1998, Bill Pauls gave $25,000 to the Republican National Committee to use in state elections.

In 2006, he donated to the re-election campaign for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. Two years earlier, he contributed to Pete Coors' Senate campaign in Colorado.

Pauls and his wife have also raised money for Schaffer, a former congressman, and Schaffer's successor, U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Fort Morgan.

ProgressNow in Denver has organized a news conference protesting Bush's visit.

The news conference will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the northwest corner of East Hampden Avenue and University Boulevard.

ProgressNow also launched a Website, www.BigOilBob.com, that lists Schaffer's contributions from energy companies and tax breaks the group says he supported.

As a narrator speaks, a picture of a gas pump with increasing prices is shown.

Schaffer likely will face U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, in November.

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