toledoblade.com --

Campaigning in a state that many view as the "epicenter" in the race for the White House, President Bush yesterday said he has a "vision to make sure prosperity reaches every corner of America" - but he acknowledged that job losses in the Toledo area have caused "anxiety."

"We're in a time of transition," Mr. Bush told 1,000 people at the Lucas County Recreation Center, which was adorned with large U.S. and Ohio flags as part of Mr. Bush's "Yes, America Can" bus tour. "The nature of the job base has begun to shift. It provides opportunity, but for somebody whose job is being transitioned, it provides anxiety. I know there's a lot of people in this part of the state who are anxious.

"This economy is strong and it is getting stronger and the people of Ohio are going to feel the economic vitality that's occurring across the country," Mr. Bush added.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, said Ohio's unemployment rate has increased from 3.9 percent to 5.7 percent since Mr. Bush took office in 2001.

The state lost 220,000 jobs, 169,700 of them in manufacturing, said Mr. Singer, citing federal labor statistics.

"The President's failed economic policies have cost Ohio more than 220,000 jobs, yet all he offers are empty slogans.

"Americans do not need President Bush to tell us that we can, we already know we can. The question is - why hasn't he? Why hasn't he explained how he's going to get back the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have disappeared on his watch? Why hasn't George Bush detailed a credible plan for how to turn the economy around? Anything less and he's going to find himself on the unemployment line," Mr. Singer said.

Don Miller, who retired five years ago from the Fostoria-based floor-covering company, Roppe Corp., said he sees signs of the economy improving.

"Our business was flat for 2 1/2 years and now it's coming back,'' said Mr. Miller, who at 67 remains chairman of the company's board of directors.

Mr. Miller said if unrest over the U.S. occupation of Iraq eases and the nation's economy shows signs of growth, Mr. Bush will carry Ohio this year as he did in 2000 and win re-election.

"They say you either love him or hate him, but I guess we all love him here," Mr. Miller said.

In his speech, Mr. Bush recognized a Perrysburg couple, Jeff and Katie Seevers, to bolster his argument that his tax cuts are helping to revive the economy.

Mr. Bush said the couple saved $1,500 in 2003, and will save another $1,500 this year.

Mrs. Seevers, 31, said she and her husband plan to use the money from the tax cuts to finish their basement as a playroom for their children.

"Somebody has got to build the playroom, unless old Jeff decides to do it himself," Mr. Bush said to laughter. "Somebody has to buy the materials. When somebody buys the materials, somebody has to manufacture the materials."

Mrs. Seevers later said she and her husband plan to finish the basement themselves.

As he did on the first day of his two-day bus tour through Michigan and Ohio, Mr. Bush yesterday spent the first half of his speech discussing the war on terrorism - specifically the ouster of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He said terrorists are waiting to see if the United States "cuts and runs" from Iraq.

"You don't have to worry about me. I don't care what the politics are. I don't care what the pressures are. We will make sure we fulfill our mission and Iraq is free," he said.

Mr. Bush's speech blended a recap of his first term in office with a look to the future, and included the firmness and folksy sense of humor that endears him to many of his backers.

He ridiculed Mr. Kerry for saying early in the campaign that some leaders of other countries, angered by U.S. policies under the Bush administration, hoped that Mr. Bush loses his bid for re-election.

"I've got a hunch this whole thing might be a case of mistaken identity," Mr. Bush said. "Whoever these mystery men are, they're not going to be deciding this election. The American people will be deciding this election."

Diana Tabbert, a retired fashion designer who lives in Oak Harbor, said Mr. Kerry's rhetoric does not square with his life, in particular his marriage to Teresa Heinz Kerry.

"I don't trust what he's saying, especially when he's married to a woman who has the revenue that she has. It seems like he is being a hypocrite by saying he is working for those in the labor class. He is the rich," Mrs. Tabbert said.

Early yesterday, Mr. Bush boarded Air Force One at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Detroit and flew into Toledo Express Airport.

He shed his suit coat to deliver his speech at the Lucas County Recreation Center. When a woman exclaimed "Viva Bush," Mr. Bush responded in Spanish and provided a translation: "We're going to win."

He apologized that First Lady Laura Bush, who joined him on Monday in two of the three stops in Michigan, was not in Maumee yesterday. Mr. Bush said she had a "scheduling conflict."

The President also did some old-fashioned politicking.

"I've come to this important part of Ohio to say, 'I need your help and I want your vote.' And with your vote, Ohio will be Bush country once again," he said.

Contact James Drew at:
jdrew@theblade.com
or 614-221-0496.

Permanent Link