Bush campaigns for Florida candidate who snubbed him

Reuters
Bush campaigns for absent Florida candidate
By Steve Holland and Tabassum Zakaria

DALLAS (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's final sprint to help Republicans in Tuesday's congressional elections hit a snag on Monday when a Florida candidate snubbed him, irritating the White House.

But Bush plowed on with speeches lashing Democrats as tax raisers who would abandon Iraq to terrorists and calling the conviction of Saddam Hussein on Sunday a sign of progress.

"We have a plan. Stick with us and the country will be better off," Bush told thousands of foot-stomping, cheering Republican faithful at a sports arena in Dallas.

Bush stumped for candidates for governor in Florida, Arkansas and his home state of Texas to complete a five-day swing through Republican areas of 10 states trying to whip up a big turnout from the party's base.

Some Republicans have distanced themselves from Bush out of concern over the Iraq war and his below-40 percent popularity.

But the most glaring example was that of Charlie Crist, who is running to replace outgoing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother.

After the White House announced Crist would introduce Bush at a rally in Pensacola, Crist's staff said he would be elsewhere campaigning in more competitive areas of the state than Republican-rich northwest Florida.

While Bush didn't refer to the absence at the rally, White House political adviser Karl Rove was clearly irritated.

"All I know is that yesterday morning they apparently made a decision that, rather than being with the governor and the president and 10,000 people in Pensacola, they made it a last-minute decision to go to Palm Beach," Rove told reporters.

"Let's see how many people show up in Palm Beach on 24 hours notice versus eight or nine thousand people in Pensacola," he said.

Bush praised Crist as experienced and compassionate.

"Tomorrow you get to vote for a new governor, and I strongly suggest you vote for Charlie Crist to be governor of the state of Florida," he said.

Crist campaigned instead with Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful.

Analysts said Democrats appeared poised to take control of the House of Representatives from Bush's Republicans and possibly the Senate as well.

It was a prospect that Bush did not want to consider, and he saw glimmers of hope from some polls suggesting a tightening of races. "We're closing strong because we're right on the issues," Bush said in Dallas.

Without mentioning her by name, Bush referred to California Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who would become House speaker if her party wins, as "the lady who thinks she's going to be the speaker -- but she's not."

Bush planned to return to Washington on Tuesday to wait out the results after voting at a firehouse near his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

(Additional reporting by Michael Christie in Miami)