Bush Pushes His Social Agenda

President Bush sought Monday to rejuvenate his “compassionate conservative” agenda as he campaigned in Ohio and helped the Republican Party raise $2.5 million at a private event.

At an appearance at a community alcohol and drug rehabilitation center, Bush called on Congress to reauthorize the landmark 1996 welfare reform law and to build on it by spending more than $400 million to support his “healthy marriage” proposal and initiatives that promote responsible fatherhood.

“There’s too much politics in Washington on this,” he argued, urging approval of legislation he said would “encourage work and ... encourage compassionate programs at the same time.”

In his fifth visit to Ohio this year -- and his 18th since taking office -- Bush also sought to bask in what appears to be a recovering economy in the state, where the unemployment rate dropped last month from 5.9% to 5.7%. “The economy is getting better,” he said.

For the most part, however, the president talked up his social agenda, focusing on his proposals to promote marriage and his efforts to channel federal funds to religious organizations that provide social services.

“The job of the federal government is to fund the providers that are actually making a difference,” Bush said during a stop at Talbert House, an addiction treatment center.

The campaign of Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, criticized Bush for appealing to Christian conservatives on politically divisive issues at the expense of concerns that more directly affect families. The Kerry campaign charged that Bush had inadequately funded child care for welfare recipients and nutritional programs for needy women and children.

Phil Singer, a Kerry campaign spokesman, also accused Bush of having done too little to curb the rise of healthcare costs and gasoline prices.

Regardless, Bush’s message Monday was likely to “reinforce his conservative base, and it will play well in the Cincinnati area,” said Herb Asher, an Ohio State University political scientist.

Statewide polls continue to show a neck-and-neck race between Bush and Kerry. Both campaigns view Ohio with its 20 electoral votes as perhaps the most crucial state in the presidential race.

Its importance was highlighted by appearances in the state last week by Kerry, Vice President Dick Cheney and First Lady Laura Bush.

Throughout his first term, the president has steadfastly touted what he describes as his “compassionate conservative” proposals. These have included standards-based education reform, reauthorization of the welfare legislation that stresses turning aid recipients into workers and, most prominently, a faith-based initiatives program that would give federal funding to religious groups that provide social services.

Bush and his aides are hoping these and other issues -- such as his support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- will spur a large turnout among Christian conservatives in the Nov. 2 election. Karl Rove, the chief White House political strategist, has told reporters that as many as 4 million Christian conservatives stayed home in the 2000 election, in large part because Bush’s agenda at the time did not sufficiently galvanize them.

Bush’s education reform bill, No Child Left Behind, became law, but his other proposals have not fared as well on Capitol Hill.

The welfare bill, which Bush described as “stuck” in Congress, includes controversial funding for abstinence-only sex education programs -- a provision opposed by some liberals. And leeriness among lawmakers over the hiring practices of religious organizations has forced the White House to put the faith-based initiatives program in place largely through executive orders and administrative rule-making, not legislation.

After his appearance at the Talbert House, Bush attended a $25,000-a-couple fundraiser at the home of investor Bill DeWitt that will raise $2.5 million for the Republican National Committee, according to Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for the president’s reelection campaign. Laura Bush, attending an event in Greenwich, Conn., raised $500,000 for the party Monday.

Coinciding with the president’s trip to Ohio, his campaign began airing radio advertisements in the state and in Missouri, Nevada and Colorado, which also are being heavily targeted by the two campaigns. The ads trumpet recent job growth in the four states and belittle Kerry’s economic message.

“We’ve met serious challenges, and things are beginning to turn around,” a narrator says in one of the ads. “And here in Ohio, things are looking up too. The economy added 1,100 new jobs in May, and the unemployment rate has dropped to 5.6%.

“So what does John Kerry say? He’s still pessimistic, on a misery tour talking about days of malaise and the Great Depression. Well, one thing’s for sure. Pessimism never created any jobs in Ohio.”

Times staff writer Nick Anderson in Washington contributed to this report.