Bush to Rev Up Campaign in Speech, TV Ads

President Bush will significantly ramp up his drive for reelection over the next week, senior aides say, with a speech tonight intended to sharpen his differences with his Democratic rivals over the economy and national security and the long-awaited launch of his television advertising campaign next week.

In a speech to the Republican Governors Assn., Bush will “lay out the choice we are likely to face over the next eight months, particularly on taxes and the war on terror,” said Ken Mehlman, the campaign manager for the Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign.

On March 4, the campaign will dip into its roughly $104 million war chest for the Republicans’ first television commercials of the reelection campaign, Mehlman said. Although many Democrats have been bracing for a television barrage from Bush criticizing the party’s eventual nominee, Mehlman said the initial ads would feature a positive message about the president’s record.

The commercials will start two days after “Super Tuesday,” the 10 Democratic contests whose results could settle the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

There is growing restiveness among Republican insiders over a series of recent polls showing Bush trailing the Democratic front-runner, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, in early tests of sentiment for the general election. In the most dramatic example, a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll last week showed Bush with a double-digit deficit against Kerry and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, Kerry’s principal rival for the nomination.

The poll results reflect, at least in part, the enormous media attention Kerry and Edwards have received as they battle for the Democratic nomination. More worrisome for the White House were polls showing Bush’s approval rating slipping below 50% -- the danger zone for any incumbent. Bush has dropped below 50% not only in recent national surveys but in polls in swing states like Ohio.

Citing those numbers, Stephanie Cutter, communications director for the Kerry campaign, said the Bush campaign’s decision to escalate the general election drive before the Democrats pick a nominee reflected anxiety about Bush’s slide in recent polls.

“They clearly are running scared on this president’s record,” she said.

Mehlman portrayed the efforts as the next “phase” in a reelection plan that so far has focused mostly on amassing Bush’s unprecedented campaign treasury and building a grass-roots organization.

More recently, Bush allies have intensified efforts to raise questions about the Democratic contenders and begin framing the case for a second term.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, for instance, has sharply criticized Kerry’s record on defense spending. The Bush campaign last week arranged for Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) to criticize Kerry in conference calls with reporters before the Democratic front-runner visited their states. And Bush made a rare appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” describing himself as a “war president” and presenting himself as a dependable leader in an uncertain time.

Tonight’s speech will specifically contrast the president’s agenda with those of Kerry and Edwards, Mehlman said.

While Bush will not mention either Democrat by name, “it will be clear that he is in a debate,” Mehlman added.

For months, Kerry and Edwards have argued that Bush’s tax cuts have failed to stimulate the economy and have proposed rolling back the portions of the plan benefiting families earning over $200,000 annually. Both men also have argued that Bush’s foreign policy has unnecessarily isolated America, complicating the war on terrorism and denying the United States financial and military assistance that could ease the challenge in Iraq.

In his speech, the president will frame the choice on these issues as “keeping the tax relief that is helping to move the economy forward ... and creating jobs versus proposals to increase taxes on the American people, which would undermine recovery and move the economy backward,” Mehlman said.

Likewise, on national security, Bush will say that his agenda amounts to moving “forward with resolve and confidence and strength in the war on terror” while Democrats are offering “an uncertain approach.”

Jennifer Palmieri, Edwards’ spokeswoman, said of the Bush campaign plan, “The Bush White House still doesn’t get it. They don’t have a PR problem -- they have a leadership problem. An ad campaign is not going to create more jobs, make healthcare more affordable or make our country more secure.”

In its initial television advertisements, the Bush campaign will attempt to rebut such arguments by focusing on the president’s record. The spots will begin airing March 4 on national cable television networks and on local affiliates in key swing states, Mehlman said.

Once Bush goes on the air, he has the financial resources to remain there for a very long time at a very high level. While recent federal financial reports show that Kerry and Edwards have virtually depleted their campaign treasuries, the Bush campaign says that through January it had raised over $143 million, with more than $104 million of that unspent.

The ads will begin airing whether or not the March 2 Democratic contests, in states from New York to California, settle the nomination fight, Mehlman said.

“We had always said we engage when the choice was clear -- and while the choice of nominee may or may not be clear [next week], the choice of issues is,” he said.