“What do we want? Clean money.  When do we want it?  Now.”

Those were the chants of a group of about 100 protestors who lined the street outside the downtown Hyatt, holding signs with slogans like “Impeach Bush and Cheney” and “Drive out the Bush regime.”

 Inside, the Vice President was speaking at a lunch fund-raiser for Representative John Doolittle, who’s been criticized for his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  The crowd outside included Vicki Bermudez of the California Nurses Association:

“It just really points out the issue with campaign politics and the way legislators fund their campaigns – I mean Doolittle and Cheney, really, poster children for the problems with campaign contriubutions and the corruption it brings.”

The C-N-A has submitted signatures for an initiative that would create a voluntary system of public campaign financing.  A Republican Party Spokesman says the protestors are not a surprise.  He says the C-N-A is trying to become a national union and is using California as its launching pad. 
  
Vice President Cheney will be in Stockton Monday night to address a fund-raiser for Republican Representative Richard Pombo. 

He’ll be in San DiegoTuesday to campaign for GOP congressional candidate Brian Bilbray.