First Lady Makes Online Pitch

WASHINGTON —  President Bush is getting a campaign boost today from his wife and his sister through an online advertisement and discussion that aim to showcase his potential appeal to women voters.

In a click-through advertisement to be placed today on more than 50 websites, First Lady Laura Bush praises her husband’s education record and speaks fervently of his commitment to youth. She also uses an electronic chalkboard to make policy points about school funding, education standards and accountability.

Bush’s campaign would like to improve his performance among women. Democrat Al Gore won 55% of women’s votes in 2000, compared with 43% for Bush, then the governor of Texas.

In the new online ad, the president’s wife is shown sitting in a book-filled room, a reminder of her background as a librarian. Video footage shows the president visiting schoolchildren.

“He knows education policy is not just about passing laws in Washington,” Laura Bush says. “It’s about giving teachers and parents the tools they need to provide a first-rate education for students all over America.”

The first lady closes with an unabashed political pitch.

“Remember when you vote this fall,” she says, “you’re voting for our future. Please vote for President Bush. Thank you.”

Also today, Doro Bush Koch, the president’s sister, is scheduled to participate in an online chat to be posted on the Bush campaign website. The subjects of the discussion will be dictated by people who message Koch.

As part of an initiative the campaign calls “W stands for Women,” Bush campaign press secretary Scott Stanzel said: “We’re reaching out to women who are interested in education and the president’s policies.”

The Internet ad featuring Laura Bush breaks new ground for the campaign. It also previews a new 30-second Bush television commercial -- to debut today -- that heralds the No Child Left Behind school reform law.

The controversial law, which Bush signed in 2002, pledged more federal aid for public education in exchange for mandatory testing and sanctions against schools that fail to show adequate progress.

Critics say the law imposes the testing and sanctions but that Bush has failed to provide enough money.

In an interview Tuesday with Associated Press, Laura Bush dismissed complaints about a lack of funding. “All of those things sound like excuses to me,” the first lady said.

Republican and Democratic strategists consider Laura Bush a popular messenger for the president -- especially at a time when his administration is under fire over its handling of a prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.

“She plays very well to his base,” said Bill Zimmerman, an advertising strategist for the pro-Democratic groups Media Fund and MoveOn.org.

“So much of his base is there on family values issues. They like Bush’s morality, his commitment to family, his commitment to religion. Laura Bush embodies a lot of that. When you put an ad on the Internet, you’re playing to the core base vote.”