A picture may be worth a thousand words, but political controversy, apparently, is worth a lot more.

To be specific, a minimum of $1.4 million, according to the National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee.

The two GOP campaign committees touched off a political firestorm two weeks ago by offering donors a three-photo set of President Bush for $150 - including one shot of Bush phoning Vice President Dick Cheney from Air Force One on the afternoon of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - if they contributed to an upcoming fundraising dinner.

Democratic leaders immediately slammed the decision by the two Republican campaign arms to use the Air Force One photo as a "grotesque"and "disgraceful " exploitation of a national tragedy, and government watchdog groups such as Common Cause denounced the move as a ploy to gain "partisan advantage"from the outpouring of public support for the President since the the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Initially stung by the outcry, the NRCC dropped Bush from its other ad and mail efforts, at least for the near term, and Senate Democrats suggested that any money raised through the use of the photo should go to charity instead of into Republican coffers.

But the resulting media melee also helped drive up demand for the photos, according to GOPofficials.

The NRCCand NRSC have sent out "thousands and thousands" ofcopies of the photo set, dramatically more than the roughly 1,000they had originally planned on distributing.

One Republican source estimated that between 3,000 and 6,000 copies of the photo set have been sent out since the news of their availability first broke in mid-May.

The mailing offering the photo to contributors, which includes a solicitation from Cheney for the June 19 President's Dinner, a joint event for the NRCCand NRSC, has been hugely successful, generating almost $1.4 million to date, and GOP officials expect the total could reach $2 million or more when all the checks are tallied.

For $150, donors were eligible to receive the Bush photo set, although an actual ticket to the dinner costs $2,500. GOPinsiders estimate they will raise $20 million to $25 million through the event.

"This limited edition, collectors quality, three-photograph series depicts the defining moments of the 'First Year' of the George W. Bush presidency,"reads the brochure offering the Bush photos to potential donors.

GOPofficials said the two committees and some Capitol Hill lawmakers "were swamped with calls from people wanting to know where they could get copies"of the Air Force One picture.

All three photos were purchased by the NRCC and NRSC through photo service Corbis.com for use in the mailing, which went out two weeks ago. Republican campaign officials declined to specify how big the mailing was, although one said it amounted to "hundreds of thousands of pieces" sent out on a staggered schedule.

To Republicans, the public's demand for the Bush photos vindicated their decision to use them in the first place, as well as the White House's decision to agree to the sale.

It's also payback, in their eyes, for the media furor touched off by Democrats on the issue.

"The media overreached on the story, and the Democratic buffoonery that followed only outraged Republicans,"said an NRCCofficial close to the issue.

Republicans also got help from some big names in the conservative establishment, such as Rush Limbaugh and Oliver North, who urged their supporters to buy the photos to show solidarity with Bush and the GOP after stories about the controversy first broke.

"We appreciate all the help from the Democrats,"quipped the NRCCofficial.

Republicans had hoped to raise approximately $150,000 through the photo sale and have been overjoyed at the financial bonanza resulting from the flap.

"Did all the press coverage [of the photo controversy] generate a higher level of interest?Absolutely,"noted a Republican official.

Democrats, however, adamantly reject any suggestion that their criticism of Bush was wrong or that publicly criticizing Bush and the GOPover the use of the Sept. 11 photo had backfired on them.

"Just because they made even more money than they expected, it doesn't make it any less substantial that they are exploiting this tragedy,"said Maria Cardona, communications director for the Democratic National Committee.

Cardona added:"But they are Republicans. They can't help themselves."