WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush and the first lady were separately taking to the road over the weekend to stump for candidates in mid-term election races that could well decide whether the 108th Congress is marked with the GOP's imprimatur.
Laura Bush, who usually shies away from the political rostrum and instead champions causes such as education, was jumping into the frey from Friday, with a three-day swing through five states.
On one of those stops, she was scheduled for up-close and personal interaction with patrons of a coffee shop.
The president, meanwhile, took to the hustings Thursday, with South Dakota, Indiana and West Virginia on his schedule. Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Kentucky were inked in for Friday. Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were in the wings for Saturday. Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota again and Minnesota were scheduled for Sunday.
On Monday, President Bush was to visit Missouri and Arkansas before appearing in Dallas and then heading home to Crawford, Texas, to cast his own ballot on Nov. 5.
The White House said the president would visit 17 cities.
Bush is fighting hard to help the Republicans regain control of the Senate and maintain their majority in the House so his legislative proposals would face less resistance.
"Thanks for having me here," Bush told a crowd in Aberdeen, S.D., early Thursday. "Next time you get me to come back, let's go pheasant hunting.
"I can't go today ... I've got to work. I'm traveling our country to remind people that the American spirit is alive and well today ... And part of the American spirit is for our citizens to exercise their duty. And their duty is to cast a vote on November the 5th."
The lines, with alterations for each specific locale, would be repeated throughout the day at different stops. Bush would then cheerlead the crowd on American values and morale and the war against terrorism.
He would then decry the Democratic-controlled Senate's failure to act on homeland security legislation, judicial nominees and anti-terrorism insurance -- which would help create construction industry-related jobs -- and other items on his stalled agenda.
Republican candidates being supported in the event, he said, were needed in Washington and/or their state capitals to support his agenda.
"For the sake of South Dakota -- for the sake of South Dakota, for the sake of our country, John Thune should be the next United States senator," Bush said in Aberdeen.
"For the sake of South Dakota and for the sake of the country, Bill Janklow needs to be the next United States Congressman ... And for the sake of South Dakota, particularly for the sake -- for excellence in education, Mike Rounds needs to be the next governor," Bush said.
The brass ring in Election 2002 is control of the Senate, which Democrats control by just one vote.
A total of 34 seats are up for grabs, and the race in South Dakota -- the home state of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle -- could be pivotal. GOP Rep. John Thune is neck-and-neck with Democratic incumbent Timothy Johnson and analysts say it is too close to call.
An Oct. 25-27 Mason-Dixon poll for KSFY Television and the Argus Leader showed Thune 2 percentage points behind Johnson at 45 percent. Eight percent of the 805 registered voters in the poll remained undecided. The margin of error was plus/minus 3.5 percent.
Thune and his wife were to share the spotlight with Laura Bush Sunday in Dell Rapids during a coffee shop drop in.
In Minnesota, where former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman was nudging Democratic incumbent Paul Wellstone, a contest that sharpened GOP expectations has been thrown into turmoil by Wellstone's death in a plane crash last week.
The stepping forward in Wellstone's stead by former Sen. and Vice President Walter Mondale, and a looming battle over absentee ballots, makes the remaining days in Minnesota crucial for both parties.
A Star Tribune Minnesota Poll on Oct. 28 of 639 likely voters statewide, showed Mondale leading Coleman by 8 percentage points -- 47 percent to 39 percent, with 14 percent of voters polled undecided. The margin of error was given as plus/minus 4 percent.
Bush will visit Minnesota on Sunday. Mrs. Bush was doing so on Saturday.
In Missouri, GOP challenger Jim Talent is locked in a close race to unseat Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan. She was appointed to the Senate by the governor after her husband, the incumbent, died in a crash just before the 2000 election but was re-elected anyway.
A poll conducted for KOMU Television between Oct. 14-16 of 603 likely voters statewide showed Talent ahead of Carnahan by 1 percentage point -- 47 percent to 46 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The margin of error was plus/minus 4 percent.
Precedent is for the party that holds the White House to lose seats on Capitol Hill in mid-term elections.
How Bush's high public approval ratings, combined with the post-Sept. 11 mood in the country, will play out won't be known until after polling places close next Tuesday. But the White House is betting some of the president's appeal will help tip the balance in the Republicans' favor.
The House of Representatives, in which the GOP held a 223-208 majority (with one independent and three vacant seats) in the 107th Congress, is expected to remain in GOP hands, although there are a number of tight races.
One is Indiana's 2nd District, where Bush Thursday was appearing to help Chris Chocola, a wealthy businessman and fiscal conservative, elbow aside former Rep. Jill Long Thompson for the vacant district seat.
A feature of Chocola's campaign ads has been his support of Bush's earlier tax cut, which Bush complains has not been made permanent by the Democratically controlled Senate.
"I urge all the citizens of this state and around the country, Republican, Democrat, or independent alike, to go to the polls," Bush said in Aberdeen Thursday.
"But I believe when those discerning Democrats and those wise independents take a look at the candidates that I'm here to support, they're going to vote for them. It's in the best interests of their families, it's in the best interests of this state that these three men be elected to their offices."
The White House said the first lady would kick off her tour in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, where she was to deliver remarks at an Elizabeth Dole for Senate campaign dinner.
In addition to North Carolina, South Dakota and Minnesota, she was also scheduled to make campaign stops in New Hampshire and Iowa.
