Bush Joined by Daughters on Campaign Stop in Heartland

Visibly buoyed by the presence of his daughters, President Bush campaigned in the heartland Tuesday, telling supporters in Iowa and Missouri that America and the world were safer because of what he characterized as his decisive leadership in the war on terrorism.

“When you give me four more years, it’s going to be even more peaceful than it is today,” Bush told several thousand flag-waving Republicans.

He made no apologies for leading the Iraq war in the face of opposition from such longtime U.S. allies as France and Germany, a decision that continued to strain transatlantic relations.

“You need to know something about me: I will never turn over America’s security decisions to leaders of other countries,” the president said as cheers reverberated in a sweltering gymnasium at Kirkwood Community College.

Bush’s emphasis on a safer America contrasts sharply with many recent speeches in which he warned of the continuing dangers that Al Qaeda and its terrorist allies posed to the United States. A White House official did not dispute the shift but said that Bush had been moving away from the dire scenario in recent weeks.

Iowa, with seven electoral votes, and Missouri, with 11, are likely to be closely contested in this presidential election, as they were in 2000. Four years ago, Democrat Al Gore won Iowa by just over 4,000 votes; Bush prevailed in Missouri by 3 percentage points, 50% to 47%.

Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have repeatedly visited the two states, as has the presumed Democratic nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts.

Tuesday was Bush’s 12th visit as president to Iowa and his 19th to Missouri; Cheney made his sixth visit to Missouri on Monday. Kerry plans to stop in Sioux City, in western Iowa, on Saturday.

Bush opened the “Ask the President” event here by delivering his standard campaign speech, which focused largely on the war on terrorism and on his domestic initiatives, including tax cuts and education reform.

He then took questions, exhorting supporters to get out the vote Nov. 2 and urging them to not overlook “discerning Democrats and wise independents.”

Tuesday was the first time that Jenna and Barbara Bush, both recent college graduates, have appeared together on the campaign trail with their father.

They remained in Missouri after their father returned to Washington. Campaign aides said they would attend private events for supporters in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania. On Friday afternoon, the sisters are to participate in an online chat at the campaign’s website, www.georgewbush.com.

The presence of his daughters, Bush told the crowd, “makes the days a little shorter and the trips a lot more fun.”

Before going back to Washington, Bush addressed 8,000 supporters in St. Charles, Mo., near St. Louis, telling them: “I’ll lay out the vision, you get people to the polls and we’ll have four more years.”

In the packed Family Arena, the president attacked Kerry, saying that the Massachusetts senator had been in Washington so long that he had “taken both sides of just about every issue.”

Bush criticized Kerry and his choice for vice president, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, for having opposed an $87-billion supplemental appropriations bill to fund military operations in Iraq, saying their votes put them in a “small, out-of-the-mainstream minority.”

But during his remarks in Cedar Rapids, Bush avoided negative comments about the Democratic candidates, telling the audience, “I’ve got too much good to talk about” -- particularly the reviving economy and, above all, the wars that unseated the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The queries from the audience were largely uncritical, and even laudatory, with topics including the president’s pets and the current campaign.

“Do I think I can beat John Kerry?” Bush asked, repeating the question of a child perched on his father’s shoulders.

“I do. I do. I need your help, though. I know you’re not old enough to vote, but you can put a sign in the yard.”