WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush's GOP campaign wagon was continuing its roll through the West Monday, with stops in New Mexico and Colorado, in the hopes of burnishing Republican efforts to hold a Senate seat, capture a House slot and claim residency in a governor's mansion in days-away midterm elections.
In the East, meanwhile, administration officials were continuing to press the U.S. case over Iraq with U.N. members reluctant to support a strong resolution for weapons inspections and disarmament that would include language authorizing the use of force in the case of non-compliance.
With days turning into weeks since Bush challenged the international body to stand up to Saddam Hussein's decade-long defiance of U.N. resolutions over his suspected weapons of mass destruction or be consigned to irrelevance, the White House is making it clear the time for decision has come.
"... It is coming down to the wire," White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "This is important.
"The United Nations has debated this now long enough. The time has come for people to raise their hands and cast their vote and either announce that they will return to the ways of the '90s, with a weak, ineffective system of inspection, or recognize that Saddam Hussein has taken advantage of weakness and the world needs to do something different."
U.S. officials believe a Security Council vote on a resolution on Iraq could come by the end of the week. But so far, France and Russia remain opposed to the U.S. draft resolution that would trigger military action for non-compliance, favoring instead of more go-slow approach.
The balancing act between domestic issues and international crisis has gone on for months, but as crucial midterm elections loom, the president has hit the campaign trail.
At stake is continued control of the House, where the GOP holds a 223-208 majority, with one independent and three vacancies. All 435 seats are up for grabs. In the Senate, where Democrats hold a one-vote majority, 34 seats are in contest Nov. 5.
"First of all, what's on my mind is that in order to be a good American, in my judgment, you've got to exercise your right," Bush said Monday in Alamogordo, N.M. "You've got to go to the polls in order to do your job as an American. You can't take democracy for granted.
"Of course, I've got a few suggestions for you when you go to the polls ... ."
In New Mexico's races, Republican Steve Pearce, a businessman, is in a hot congressional contest with Democratic state Sen. John Arthur Smith; John Sanchez, a freshman in the state House, is trying to elbow aside Bill Richardson in the grab for the governorship.
Richardson, a former congressman and energy secretary under President Clinton is the heavy favorite in the race.
Following New Mexico, Bush was stopping in Denver to cheerlead incumbent U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard's campaign against Democratic challenger Tom Strickland, and House hopeful Bob Beauprez against Mike Feeley for the vacant 7th District seat.
On Sunday, Bush touted GOP candidates in Arizona. Last Thursday, while making his way to Texas for a meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin Friday and a weekend summit meeting in Mexico with leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Bush made campaign whistle-stops in North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama.
This coming Friday, after time in Washington in the crucial run up to possible Security Council vote on Iraq, Bush takes to the stump in South Dakota and Indiana.
During his talks in Texas with Jiang, the best the president was able to elicit from him in regard to Iraq was a statement that Baghdad should comply with international weapons inspections.
There apparently was no expression of support for the president's single-resolution track on dealing with Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction and pursuit of nuclear capability.
So far, of the other four permanent members of the Security Council, only Britain has stood with Washington.
Bush has repeatedly warned the United States would act alone or in concert with whatever allies can corral to disarm Iraq, which it says is a growing threat to international security.
The White House Monday, which showed growing impatience with the U.N.'s prolonged debate, said action on Iraq this week prior to an expected vote was on three levels: the representative level at the United Nations, the ministerial level and the presidential level as needed.
In other developments, APEC nations -- as well as Japan and South Korea in a trilateral statement -- sounded the U.S. call for communist North Korea to abandon its search for nuclear weapons and abide by its 1994 agreement not to pursue them.
"The focus (in talks) was on North Korea and the president is satisfied with the accomplishments of the two statements that were made, one by trilats, South Korea, Japan and the United States, and then the broader APEC group statement calling for the immediate dismantlement of the North Korean nuclear program," Fleischer said Monday.
North Korea agreed in 1994 to give up trying to obtain nuclear weapons in exchange for heavy fuel oil, the building of two modern nuclear power plants and other economic aid. Earlier this month, however, the Pyongyang regime, when presented with U.S. intelligence, admitted violating the agreement.
