Bono Hires Bush Aide

U2 lead singer Bono, a self-proclaimed nonpartisan, has hired a former top George Bush aide who says he’s now nonpartisan as well – Matthew Dowd.

Dowd, chief campaign strategist for Bush-Cheney in 2004, has begun work as chief strategist for the One Campaign, the anti-poverty organization founded by Bono.

“It fit in with where I was in my life, which is no longer wanting to be in partisan politics,” Dowd said.

A one-time Democrat who switched to the GOP in 1999, Dowd will lobby presidential candidates from both parties to support Bono’s organization, “a job that may be more difficult after he publicly distanced himself from Mr. Bush’s presidency last spring,” according to the New York Times.

In an April interview, Dowd expressed disappointment with Bush’s Iraq policy and other issues.

The president was “particularly hurt” by Dowd’s departure from the Bush camp, the Washington Post reported.

After taking his post with the One Campaign, Dowd said: “I don’t want to be viewed as a Republican and I don’t want to be viewed as a Democrat. I’d rather be viewed as a human being.”