Bush Labors to Save GOP in Last Campaign

Supporters cheer as President Bush arrives for a campaign rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, Friday, Sept. 10, 2004. Twenty-eight years after his first campaign President Bush is waging his last for Republicans in the upcoming November elections, and Monday, Oct. 30, 2006, he holds his first rally aimed at boosting the vote. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File) (Charles Dharapak - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Twenty-eight years after his first campaign, George W. Bush is waging his last. If the polls are right, the president could wind up experiencing the sting of defeat for the first time since that 1978 race.

Most of the winning campaigns in between have been close, and Bush's victories have hinged in part on his flair for retail politicking that allows him to make personal connections with voters.

But the war in Iraq has driven Bush's popularity down to a point where he has had to avoid major public events and instead has appeared almost exclusively with party elites.

Still, Bush refuses to accept the conventional wisdom in Washington that Republicans might lose the House and perhaps even the Senate. He cuts off questions about the impact of a Democratic takeover and insists Republicans are going to win.

"This election is going to be determined by how our candidates run locally. And I believe if they continue to emphasize the big issues _ keeping taxes low and protecting the American people _ we'll win," Bush said Friday.

He is doing what he can to help make that happen and certainly has more impact on the race than any other politician.

Bush has raised more than $193 million at about 90 events this election season. He has posed with dozens of smiling candidates on the steps of Air Force One. He has eaten ice cream with a candidate who admitted to marital infidelity. He traveled across the country to sign a bill sponsored by California Rep. Richard Pombo.

"By the likes of what we see behind the scenes, he's showing all the vigor of a campaign stretch as when his own name is on the ballot," said Dan Bartlett, one of Bush's closest advisers.

Although Bush's fate is not at stake, the last two years of his term _ and his legacy _ is. Democratic control of Congress would surely hasten his lame-duck status.

Bush's campaign help for his party has so far come solely in the form of raising cash and appearing before the faithful. Many of those fundraisers are closed to all media coverage.

By contrast, before the 2002 elections, a much more popular Bush began appearing at rallies in August. In October alone, he appeared at eight and nearly all of his political events, of any kind, were open to cameras and reporters.

Bush is only now starting to take his campaign back out in the open with Saturday offering the first free rally, little more than a week before the Nov. 7 election. Such events are aimed at boosting the vote rather than prying cash from wealthy GOP supporters. He will continue that strategy for all but two days over the final campaign stretch.