Bush on late campaign
blitz;
gay-marriage stand
draws big response
By Molly
Hennessy-Fiske and James Gerstenzang Los Angeles Times
From
seattletimes.nwsource.com on the Web, October 29, 2006
SELLERSBURG, Ind. — At his
first campaign rally this election season, President Bush on Saturday galvanized
supporters in a packed high-school gym by pledging to oppose gay marriage, a
theme Republican candidates have revived after a New Jersey court ruling in
favor of gay couples.
"Activist judges try to define America by court order," Bush told the crowd of
4,000 at Silver Creek High School, flanked by local Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind.,
who is running for re-election. "Just this week in New Jersey, another
activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of
marriage. We believe marriage is between a man and a woman."
At that, the crowd went wild, members shouting "USA," stomping feet and shaking
pompoms.
The New Jersey Supreme Court last week ruled that gay and lesbian couples in
that state should have all the rights and benefits of marriage, leaving it up to
legislators to decide whether to call such partnerships marriages or civil
unions.
Gay marriage was a motivating issue for social conservatives in the 2004
election but has been overshadowed in this year's campaign by the war in Iraq.
Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage will be on the ballot in eight
states in November, including South Carolina, which Bush visited late Saturday.
Bush also told the rally crowd that Democrats should not be trusted to control
Congress because they have no idea how to win in Iraq.
"I want you to think about the Democrat plan for success. There isn't one.
They are in agreement on one thing: They will leave before the job is
done, and we will not let them."
Later Saturday, during his South Carolina stop, Bush spoke to troops on a tarmac
at Charleston Air Force Base, repeating his defense of his Iraq policy in a
speech that was stripped of its earlier partisan jabs. But the appearance
created potent images, as Bush, surrounded by troops in camouflage, strode into
his audience's view from between C-17 cargo planes as soaring music blared.
"It's a hard fight," the president said of Iraq. "And we've got a lot of
brave citizens of ours in the midst of the fight. But we have a plan for
victory."
Until the Indiana stop, all of Bush's approximately 90 political events in the
2005-06 election season were fundraisers, with donors willing to pay a high
price to see him.
The rally was the president's first free appearance and came in the final
stretch of an election that will determine whether Republicans retain their
majorities in the House and Senate.
Many beleaguered Republican candidates have distanced themselves from Bush in
recent debates, ads and closed fundraisers as his approval rating remained below
40 percent. It has become increasingly difficult for the party to take
advantage of the office of the president, party strategists say.
The campaign landscape has changed since the midterm elections of 2002, when
Bush's approval rating was 64 percent. Then, Bush targeted battleground
districts with massive, boisterous rallies.
But he has been more low-key this campaign season. At a Thursday
fundraising rally that brought in $700,000 for the Senate campaign of Oakland
County, Mich., Sheriff Mike Bouchard, a catering hall half the size of a
high-school gymnasium was more than half-empty.
Bush is scheduled to focus on red states during the coming week in the hopes of
drawing crowds and boosting Republican House campaigns in states he won by large
margins.
The president has five more rallies scheduled so far through Thursday, in Texas,
Montana, Nevada and Georgia. By Election Day, he is likely to have made 20
stops, Republican strategist Scott Reed said.
"In this phase of the game, it's about winning a day in the news, and a visit by
the president will about guarantee you win the day," Reed said. He called
Bush's agenda "a last-minute flurry to limit the losses ... and keep the House
from going Democrat."
Hennessy-Fiske reported from Indiana and Gerstenzang from
Washington, D.C. Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.
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