Bush Highlights Security and Jobs on Midwest Swing

MARQUETTE, Mich. —  President Bush, launching a two-day campaign swing Tuesday in three Midwestern states he narrowly lost in 2000, vowed to continue waging war against terrorists while adhering to domestic policies he said had turned the economy around.

“I’m seeking the vote because I have a vision and a strategy to win the war on terror and extend peace and freedom throughout the world,” a spirited Bush told about 10,000 cheering supporters at a boisterous midafternoon rally here.

“I have a plan to continue to create jobs and opportunity for every single American,” the president added. “Give me a chance to be your president and America will be safer and stronger and better.”

He later campaigned in Minnesota, and will speak today in three communities in Wisconsin.

Democrat Al Gore won Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin four years ago, the latter by 5,700 votes out of 2.6 million cast. The trio of states are among the 20 or so being closely contested this year by Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee.

In Michigan, where 17 electoral votes are at stake, Bush charged that Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, were out of tune with mainstream America on a panoply of issues, including cultural values and national defense.

The president sought to raise questions about their commitment to U.S. troops, noting that both senators had voted to authorize the war against Iraq but voted against a subsequent $87-billion appropriations bill to fund ongoing operations there and in Afghanistan.

Bush said lawmakers “should not vote to send troops into battle and then vote against funding them -- and then brag about it.”

“Leaders need to stand up with our military,” he said. “We need to back them 100%. And that is what I will continue to do as the commander in chief of a great United States military.”

Kerry’s campaign said he had voted against the $87 billion in the absence of a clear strategy from Bush “that protects the troops and makes America safer.”

In a conference call organized by the Kerry campaign, former Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) dismissed Bush’s criticisms, saying the president was trying to divert attention from a failed policy in Iraq.

“When George Bush gets into trouble, he always goes into slam-machine mode,” Cleland said.

Referring to Bush’s Iraq policy, he said: “This president sold us a used car that turned into a lemon, and the wheels have fallen off.”

By the time the vote came last fall on the $87 billion, Cleland added, “it was painfully obvious” that the U.S. would be “putting good money after bad.”

Bush appeared relaxed as he took the stage for his appearance in Michigan, where he was introduced by Detroit Lions Coach Steve Mariucci, a hometown hero. Beaming, Bush quickly rolled up his sleeves and flashed his campaign trademark hand signal, “W,” his middle initial.

He was the first president to visit this Upper Peninsula town of 20,000 since William Howard Taft in 1911.

Although Gore carried Michigan four years ago, 51% to 46%, Bush did well in this largely blue-collar and socially conservative region. He outperformed most previous Republican presidential candidates, winning about half the 15 counties in the peninsula, according to Bill Ballenger, a government professor at Central Michigan University.

The region is a “classic, poor, rural area -- with people like the kind you’d find in West Virginia. And surprise, surprise: Bush also carried West Virginia,” Ballenger noted.

“I think he’s trying to tip his hat to people who supported him,” he said.

Bush later campaigned in Duluth, Minn., where he addressed some 6,000 supporters and promised them “strong, consistent, optimistic leadership” for four more years.

Challenging Bush’s economic record, the Kerry campaign released a report Tuesday asserting that widespread job losses and anemic wage increases had left many middle-class Americans less financially secure today than they were when the president took office.

The report said Bush had the worst jobs record of any president running for reelection in nearly 60 years.

It cited a 2002 White House forecast that the U.S. workforce would grow by about 6 million jobs by 2004.

Instead, the report said, the nation’s job count in June was 1 million less than when Bush became president in January 2001, leaving the administration 7 million jobs short of the mark it set for itself.

“The reality is, that is a promise that has been grossly unmet,” said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat.

Although the economy has generated 1.5 million jobs in the last 10 months, most of the growth has occurred in industries paying lower wages and offering fewer benefits than jobs that have been lost, the report said.

And although corporate profits have risen to near-record levels, the report stated, average weekly earnings have failed to keep pace with inflation, squeezing the finances of many middle-class families.

“There’s ample proof that this economy is not what it needs to be,” Vilsack said.

Bush took a more positive view of the economy, telling his audience in Michigan that employers in the state had added 29,600 new jobs since February. Still, he acknowledged that the state’s unemployment rate of 6.5% was “too high.”

Bush also promoted his six-point domestic policy plan, which includes reforming the court system, making permanent the tax cuts passed by Congress during his administration, and the adopting of a national energy policy that he said would help America lessen its dependence on foreign sources of energy.

The president seemed most animated when he discussed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying that the dual campaigns had liberated more than 50 million people.

“Once again, America is proud to lead the armies of liberation,” Bush said.

He was frequently interrupted by applause and chants of “four more years.”

One of the president’s twin daughters, Barbara, joined him on the campaign trail. Her sister, Jenna, traveled with Bush during a campaign swing Friday in Pennsylvania.

In another sign of how close the election is expected to be in Michigan, Vice President Dick Cheney will campaign in Lansing on Friday, accompanied by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

McCain carried Michigan in the 2000 GOP primary, defeating Bush.

Times staff writers Michael Finnegan and Warren Vieth contributed to this report.