DAVENPORT, Iowa, Aug. 4 -- President Bush and Democratic challenger John F. Kerry brought their battle for the White House to this Mississippi River town Wednesday, staging dueling campaign events within blocks of each other where they painted sharply contrasting portraits of the economy and U.S. policy in Iraq.
The two candidates' proximity was a coincidence in scheduling, according to both campaigns, but their twin appearances underscored the importance of Iowa in an election that remains a tossup both in this state and nationally.
Bush and Kerry were greeted by a banner headline in the Quad-City Times that read "President Bush, Mr. Kerry, We Want You To Know . . ." and smaller headlines noting that the economy is the number one issue for voters and that an area of the state with a preponderance of swing voters remains up for grabs.
Speaking in shirtsleeves at an outdoor rally at a riverside park, Bush claimed success for his economic policies, noting that Iowa's unemployment rate is below the national average. He predicted that he would carry a state he lost narrowly to former vice president Al Gore four years ago.
"The other folks talk a good game," the president said. "We deliver."
Kerry, who staged an economic summit with business and labor leaders at the indoor River Center, spoke about a different economy, one that has cost Iowa about 25,000 manufacturing jobs in the past four years. He tweaked Bush for saying in the past few days that the economy has turned the corner.
"I guess President Bush is just a few blocks from here," Kerry said as he opened his forum. "It occurred to me that he could come here for a great discussion about America's future if he were really willing to just turn a corner."
Bush and Kerry circled past one another last weekend as they campaigned through Ohio and Pennsylvania, but Wednesday's overlapping events marked the first time they have been in the same place at the same time during the campaign. While local police were providing security for the candidates at the morning events, three nearby banks were robbed within a one-hour period. Authorities provided few details of the holdups and declined to say how much money was taken.
In April, Bush and Kerry attended different ceremonies in Topeka, Kan., marking the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's school-desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, but those were billed as official, nonpolitical events. There was no such pretense today, as the two campaigns focused on Iowa's seven electoral votes.
"I don't think anyone should be surprised the two may cross paths from time to time, given that certain states are more competitive than others," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.
Bush lost Iowa in 2000 by fewer than 5,000 votes -- out of 1.3 million cast -- and both campaigns see eastern Iowa as particularly crucial to the outcome in November. In the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois, independents significantly outnumber Republicans and Democrats in party registration. The two campaigns view those voters as the key to victory in November.
The president did not acknowledge that his opponent was a mere three blocks away -- or mention him by name. But the president disputed Kerry's bleak portrayal of the economy.
Bush said that Iowa had added 110,000 jobs in the past year and that its unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent, lower than the national average.
He said pointedly that in this part of the country, where agricultural interests still reign, "I have kept my promise to America's farmers." For the past three years, he said, the net cash income of U.S. farms has reached record levels.
