Bush in final push for GOP candidates

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A tightening of key political races and 11th-hour election jitters have sent President George W. Bush to more than a half-dozen geographically disparate states to boost GOP chances for snatching the brass ring of Election 2002, control of the Senate.

Bush, the White House said on Tuesday, would criss-cross the nation starting Friday, when Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Kentucky were inked in on his schedule. Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were set for Saturday.

Minnesota was believed to be on the agenda for Sunday or Monday. Former Minnesota senator and former Vice President Walter Mondale was expected to step in for Democrat Paul Wellstone, killed in a plane crash last Friday, in the Senate race against Republican Norm Coleman.

"Many races are close, very close; in fact, too close to call," a Republican Party official, who requested anonymity, told United Press International.

"It's going to come down to who turns out the most ardent supporters as to who will win."

In the House of Representatives all 435 seats are up for grabs. Republicans hold 223 seats to the Democrats' 208. There was also one independent and three vacant seats in the 107th Congress.

In the Senate, where Democrats rule by just one, 34 seats are in play. This body that has come under presidential opprobrium as Bush's legislative agenda remains mired in partisan bickering. Bush hopes to overcome that by regaining control Nov. 5.

"... The president believes a broad agenda, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Defense, would have more of a chance of being passed into law if the House and Senate had more people who supported the president's agenda," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Midterm elections are not usually a matter of presidential coattails. But the post-Sept. 11, 2001, world, in which terrorism and a possible war with Iraq loom, is not a usual election period, and despite a slump in approval ratings, Bush's popularity remains high.

And in his campaign appearances for GOP candidates, the war on terrorism is never far from the president's lips.

Kitchen-table issues, which usually favor Democrats, can't be discounted from the issues mix, however. The Conference Board of businesses, which measures consumer confidence, said Tuesday that its latest Consumer Confidence Index, based on surveys of 5,000 households, shows a 14.3 percentage point drop in consumer confidence from September -- the largest drop in nine years and the fifth consecutive monthly decline.

"A weak labor market, the threat of military action in Iraq, and a prolonged decline in the financial markets have clearly dampened both consumer confidence and their expectations for the future," a board official said.

In New Hampshire on Friday, Bush will cheerlead John E. Sununu, who is vying for a Senate seat against Democratic Gov. Jean Shaheen.

Minnesota is a sensitive spot in November's contest. Republican Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul, trailed incumbent Wellstone by 3 percentage points in a Star-Tribune newspaper poll taken Oct. 10-16, no easy achievement in a state long in the Democrats' camp.

Wellstone's death and the prospect of Mondale taking his place may have changed the equation.

An absence of all-out politicking until after Wellstone's funeral Tuesday night leaves the contest truly up in the air.

The White House said Bush would cast his own ballot in Crawford, Texas.

"Ultimately, the elections are going to turn on individual factors and issues, but the president will do what he can to help in the competitive races," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.