WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush this week launched the biggest money-raising effort in US political history as he tries to turn his wartime popularitysintosa source of revenue for his re-election bid.

　　Even as he spoke at a reception in a downtown hotel ballroom for which guests paid US,000 apiece to dine on mini-hamburgers, hot dogs and nachos, Bush sought to remain above the fray of day-to-day politicking.

　　"The political season will come in its own time," he said.

　　The evening netted him about US million, the first step on the road to the record US million to US million the Bush campaign wants for the 2004 election.

　　"Right now this administration is focused on the people's business," Bush said. "We've got a lot on the agenda."

　　Bush defended his handling of the nation's economy and the war on terrorism. He touted his tax cuts, education reform and his efforts to keep Americans safe from attacks like those on September 11, 2001.

　　He called on Congress to reform the Medicare health programe for the elderly, overhaul the nation's welfare system and pass a controversial energy plan that would allow drilling in parts of an Arctic wildlife refuge.

　　The US million goal would double the presidential campaign fund-raising record - US million raked in by Bush for his 2000 run - and establish the Republican president's financial dominance over Democrats who are choosing from among nine candidates.

　　Republicans have wealthier individual supporters than Democrats, who benefited from large, unregulated "soft money" contributions, outlawed by a new campaign finance law that is subject to a court challenge.

　　It was the first fund-raising event of a busy summer for Bush, whose popularity has soared based on his response to the September 11 attacks, but who faces lingering questions about a US economy in the doldrums and the absence of conclusive evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

　　"Today is the first step in the largest collection of campaign dollars in the history of presidential politics," said Republican consultant Scott Reed.

　　By the end of June, Republicans expect Bush to have raised US million with more events in Georgia, New York, California and Florida. Functions are planned next month in Dallas, Houston and Detroit.

　　"It is a strategy to overwhelm the Democrats, to demoralize them, and to create this sense of inevitability that Bush cannot be beaten," said Reed.

　　Democrats said it would take more than US million for Bush to explain to Americans why 2.5 million people have lost jobs since he took office.

　　"President Bush can hold all the fundraisers he wants - and I'm sure that he will - but that will not change the fact that his handling of this economy has been disastrous," Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said.

　　White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush would use the money to pay for campaign advertising to promote his record and respond to criticism from Democrats. He left it unclear as to when the ad campaign would start.

　　"Given the fact that there are nine Democrats who every day criticize the president, it's important for the president to have the ability to respond and to set the record straight," said Fleischer.

　　Bush will decline taxpayer-financed political funds for the primary season, for which he has no Republican challenger. That exempts him from spending restrictions attached to those funds, giving him a huge financial advantage over the Democratic candidates. He will accept public financing for the fall 2004 campaign.