BUSH FUNDRAISER form the Macon Telegraph Political Notebook

Organizers are still tallying the numbers, but Rick Goddard's congressional campaign and the state Republican Party said they are both happy with this week's joint fundraiser, which featured an Atlanta visit from President Bush.

"Contributions are still coming in," Georgia GOP Executive Director Ben Fry said.

As for the trip costs, Fry and Goddard campaign spokesman Tim Baker said the two groups would divvy up a $40,000 reimbursement fee to defray public costs for the president's visit. As we've noted here before, it's notoriously difficult to peg the total cost of a trip like this. But there's no doubt it costs more than $40,000 to bring Air Force One to Georgia.

But campaign finance laws don't require a complete reimbursement, and Baker and Fry said they're just going by the rules. The money will be paid to the Republican National Committee, and where it goes from there is unclear.

After Vice President Dick Cheney visited Middle Georgia for Goddard last month, the RNC refused to say whether it would actually forward the reimbursement for that trip to the federal treasury.