Bush Begins Blitz for GOP Votes

Calling on voters to elect a Republican Congress that will enact his agenda, President Bush began a final campaign sprint Thursday that will take him to 17 cities in 15 states by next week’s midterm elections.

Bush issued that plea at three spirited political rallies, here and then in South Bend, Ind., and Charleston, W.Va. -- areas with some of the hardest-fought and closest races in Tuesday’s elections.

Addressing a well-bundled crowd in the Northern State University gymnasium on a frigid South Dakota morning, the president touted the candidacy of GOP Rep. John R. Thune, who is running neck and neck against incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson.

This particular campaign has acquired something of a personal tone. South Dakota is the home of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, the Democrats’ chief voice in Washington and Johnson’s mentor. Aberdeen also is Daschle’s hometown, and Bush is the first president to visit this city in 66 years.

The president considers this race so important, in fact, that he is returning to the state on Sunday.

Traditionally, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterm elections, but Bush is hoping that his strong popularity ratings will extend to congressional candidates. Republicans currently control the House, while Democrats have a narrow edge in the Senate.

As is his wont when addressing partisan rallies, Bush did not directly attack the Democrats’ candidate; but his remarks on Thune’s behalf contained a dose of implied criticism of Johnson.

With the prospect of a conflict in Iraq, plus the ongoing war on terrorism, military preparedness has become a key issue in this increasingly acrimonious campaign. Thune has attacked Johnson for opposing the missile defense system that Bush favors.

Johnson has replied by noting that his son serves in the military; he also co-sponsored the Senate resolution authorizing Bush to take military action against Iraq if President Saddam Hussein does not get rid of any weapons of mass destruction.

In his remarks Thursday, Bush hailed Thune as “a man who is committed to our military -- and not just at election time.” The president also called him “an independent fellow who ... can work with both Democrats and Republicans.”

Among his many grievances with the Democrat-controlled Senate, Bush cited its refusal to confirm many of his judicial nominations.

“I need a senator with whom I can work to make sure that we stop playing petty partisan politics with the judicial nominations I’ve sent up; to make sure people’s records aren’t distorted; and to make sure we have a bench that is full of judges who aren’t there to write the law, they’re there to strictly interpret the United States Constitution,” he said.

Nearly every poll has shown the South Dakota race to be within the margin of error, and it is expected to go down to the wire on Tuesday.

Bush also praised the GOP candidacies of Gov. William Janklow, a personal friend running for Thune’s House seat, and state Senate Majority Leader Mike Rounds, who is seeking to replace Janklow as governor.

In urging a strong GOP get-out-the-vote effort, Bush hopes for the election of Republicans who will “help him implement his agenda,” said Scott McClellan, deputy White House press secretary.

Bush also has taped a get-out-the-vote message for the Republican National Committee, which is being distributed around the country, McClellan said.

At each stop Thursday, Bush urged all citizens to vote, but he also added, with a smile, that he had a few “suggestions” for them “inside the voting booth.”

In South Dakota, a heavily Republican state, Democrats have been especially aggressive in registering and mobilizing voters to get them to the polls.

But their efforts to register Native Americans have been marred by allegations of irregularities on or near Indian reservations -- possibly involving deceased or nonexistent people. That has drawn the attention of the FBI and the state attorney general’s office.

So far, statewide voter registration drives have upped the number of registered voters by about 24,000 -- an increase of more than 5%, according to state election officials.

In South Bend, Bush praised Chris Chocola, a businessman running against former Rep. Jill Long Thompson, a Democrat, to succeed retiring Rep. Tim Roemer, also a Democrat.

Before ending more than 14 hours on the campaign trail, Bush addressed a rally in Charleston, where first-term GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is facing a serious challenge from businessman Jim Humphreys in the country’s most expensive House race.

Today, Bush will campaign in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Saturday he goes to Tennessee and Georgia, and then he will spend the night in Tampa, Fla. On Sunday, he will campaign with his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, before going to Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa.

And on Monday, the president will campaign in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.

He plans to spend that night at his ranch near Crawford, Texas, then vote the next morning before returning to Washington.