President hits two Midwest states he narrowly lost in 2000

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush is campaigning in two adjoining Midwest states he narrowly lost four years ago, as he and rival John Kerry battle it out in the same Iowa city on the same day, and the president promotes an environmental program in rural Minnesota.

Bush and Kerry are in a tight race in Iowa and both candidates are going after voters in Davenport, an area that some political experts say provided Democrat Al Gore the votes he needed four years ago in capturing the state with a margin of less than 5,000 votes. Gore made a well-timed visit to the state the month before the election. This is Bush's fourth trip to Iowa this year.

Bush's campaign rally Wednesday along the banks of the Mississippi River is barely three blocks away from where Kerry was to listen to the stories of manufacturing job losses in the state, which have totaled more than 26,000 since Bush took office.

On the positive side for Bush in Iowa is that the state's jobless rate, 4.3 percent in June, consistently has been below the national average, which was 5.6 percent in June.

Iowa Republicans say they are not surprised that the incumbent president is in a dead heat with Kerry in the state.

"After what happened in 2000, with the election going to the Supreme Court, that hardened many people's attitudes," former Iowa state Republican chairman Michael Mahaffey said. "Democratic Party activists have been very disgruntled and they want to make sure they do everything they can to make sure that George Bush is defeated."

Mahaffey's view is that the "passion is more to get George Bush defeated than it is to get John Kerry elected."

In the Mankato, Minn., area, Bush was highlighting a national program that would provide $40 billion over the next decade to restore millions of acres of wetlands, protect sensitive habitats, conserve water and improve streams and waterways near farms and ranches.

Kerry's camp sent Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin to Minnesota to criticize Bush's level of support for the conservation program, saying Minnesota has seen fewer acres approved for enrollment in the program.

One calculation in the president's visit to rural Minnesota may be the overlap effect on Iowa. Mankato has a television station that broadcasts into Iowa, says political science professor Joseph Kunkel of Minnesota State University in Mankato.

The president was visiting a farm in the town of LeSueur, Minn., and a quarry in Mankato.

Bush lost the state in 2000 with 45.5 percent of the vote to Gore's 47.9 percent.

Bush's last visit to the state was in July to Duluth, traditionally considered Democratic territory. Southern Minnesota is more reliably Republican, though Kunkel said Mankato itself is considered more Democratic.

---

Associated Press writers Amy Lorentzen and Mike Glover in Iowa and Patrick Howe in Minnesota contributed to this report.