A George W. Am-Bush at Jersey Event

Texas Gov. George W. Bush strode into an urban community center Friday morning expecting just another event devised to cast himself as a progressive who’s sympathetic to the plight of the working poor. Instead he found himself having to defend his strict enforcement of the death penalty.

Bush aides were looking to close out the first week of a nine-state tour to trumpet his “compassionate conservative” theme on a positive note. Friday’s mini-event was to be a roll-out of an initiative for faith-based youth programs.

The venue was the Elizabethport Presbyterian Center, where a predominantly African American audience of about 75 people watched Bush participate in one of the round-table discussions that are a staple of his campaign.

Midway through, the minister sitting to Bush’s immediate right, Joseph Garlic, turned and told the Texas governor that, in allowing the execution of death row inmate Gary Graham, Bush “missed an opportunity to show some of this compassion and to show some of this new Republican spirit you talk about.”

Bush defended his support for the death penalty, then added, “It’s not an easy decision to make, as I’m sure you can understand. But it isn’t a political decision for me, reverend, this is a decision of utmost importance, of course. It’s a decision I take seriously. But my job as governor is to uphold the laws, and I intend to do so and I will do so. If it costs me votes, so be it.”

Garlic shot back, “With all due respect, sir, that is not an answer. That is not a good enough answer for me.”

“Well, I’m sorry,” Bush replied.

“The issue,” the minister continued, “was the doubt concerning the man’s conviction and whether or not beyond a reasonable doubt the man was guilty based on the evidence that was supplied. And while you may say to me it was not a political decision, it definitely was not a moral decision.”

Bush said flatly, “We just disagree,” before another panelist abruptly changed the subject.

Graham was executed last month after Bush declined to intervene. Graham’s supporters said he was convicted unjustly, based on the testimony of one eyewitness.

Bush and Vice President Al Gore, his Democratic rival, each support the death penalty. But Bush has come under particularly heavy fire from critics because he presided over 136 executions as governor of Texas, the nation’s leading killer of death row inmates.

The night before Bush was challenged on the death penalty here, Gore encountered a similar, though less pointed, question while campaigning in Saginaw, Mich. The question also came from a minister, who asked the vice president to spell out what precautions should be taken to prevent the execution of the innocent.

The question on the death penalty was a brief diversion from Bush’s main event Friday--the announcement of a plan to provide an additional $400 million a year to help low-income families pay for after-school activities. He also said he would remove a provision of federal law that limits the amount of money the government can give to religious-based community programs.

Bush and Gore have sounded strikingly similar themes in talking about guiding children and preventing school violence. While marking the one-year anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo., three months ago, each called for more teaching of ethics and discipline in the classroom.

Today, Bush plans to meet with former Defense Secretary Richard B. Cheney, who is administering the Texas governor’s search for a running mate. Bush said he discussed the vice presidency with New York Gov. George Pataki over breakfast Friday.

Bush also is hoping to widen his lead over Gore next week, when the Republican National Committee is expected to resume its television advertising campaign supporting the presumptive nominee.

The two major parties began running ads, paid for in part with controversial “soft money” donations, in 17 states in early June. But the RNC stopped buying air time after about three weeks, saying the Democrats’ ads weren’t moving Gore’s poll numbers and that it would be a waste of money to continue.

Since June, the Democrats have spent about $14 million on advertising; the Republicans have spent about $6 million. But now Bush’s party is returning to television with a spot focusing on the Texas governor and education. It’s set to air in the 17 states where the Democrats are still running ads, and three others, according to an RNC official: California, Nevada and New Hampshire.

By hitting the airwaves in California--considered a must-win for Gore--the Republicans hope to make the state competitive enough to make the vice president spend time and money in territory that he should have locked up.

Democrats, not surprisingly, took a different view.

“It’s obvious that George Bush and the Republicans know they’re losing the message war,” said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jenny Backus.

“It doesn’t matter how many millions of dollars the Republicans put up,” Backus said. “George Bush is still anti-choice, anti-environment and anti-public schools, and no amount of pretty pictures can change that.”