Bush on late campaign blitz; gay-marriage stand draws big response

SELLERSBURG, Ind. — At his first campaign rally this election season, President Bush on Saturday galvanized supporters in a packed high-school gym by pledging to oppose gay marriage, a theme Republican candidates have revived after a New Jersey court ruling in favor of gay couples.

"Activist judges try to define America by court order," Bush told the crowd of 4,000 at Silver Creek High School, flanked by local Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., who is running for re-election. "Just this week in New Jersey, another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is between a man and a woman."

At that, the crowd went wild, members shouting "USA," stomping feet and shaking pompoms.

The New Jersey Supreme Court last week ruled that gay and lesbian couples in that state should have all the rights and benefits of marriage, leaving it up to legislators to decide whether to call such partnerships marriages or civil unions.

Gay marriage was a motivating issue for social conservatives in the 2004 election but has been overshadowed in this year's campaign by the war in Iraq.

Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage will be on the ballot in eight states in November, including South Carolina, which Bush visited late Saturday.

Bush also told the rally crowd that Democrats should not be trusted to control Congress because they have no idea how to win in Iraq.

"I want you to think about the Democrat plan for success. There isn't one. They are in agreement on one thing: They will leave before the job is done, and we will not let them."

Later Saturday, during his South Carolina stop, Bush spoke to troops on a tarmac at Charleston Air Force Base, repeating his defense of his Iraq policy in a speech that was stripped of its earlier partisan jabs. But the appearance created potent images, as Bush, surrounded by troops in camouflage, strode into his audience's view from between C-17 cargo planes as soaring music blared.

"It's a hard fight," the president said of Iraq. "And we've got a lot of brave citizens of ours in the midst of the fight. But we have a plan for victory."

Until the Indiana stop, all of Bush's approximately 90 political events in the 2005-06 election season were fundraisers, with donors willing to pay a high price to see him.

The rally was the president's first free appearance and came in the final stretch of an election that will determine whether Republicans retain their majorities in the House and Senate.

Many beleaguered Republican candidates have distanced themselves from Bush in recent debates, ads and closed fundraisers as his approval rating remained below 40 percent. It has become increasingly difficult for the party to take advantage of the office of the president, party strategists say.

The campaign landscape has changed since the midterm elections of 2002, when Bush's approval rating was 64 percent. Then, Bush targeted battleground districts with massive, boisterous rallies.

But he has been more low-key this campaign season. At a Thursday fundraising rally that brought in $700,000 for the Senate campaign of Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff Mike Bouchard, a catering hall half the size of a high-school gymnasium was more than half-empty.

Bush is scheduled to focus on red states during the coming week in the hopes of drawing crowds and boosting Republican House campaigns in states he won by large margins.

The president has five more rallies scheduled so far through Thursday, in Texas, Montana, Nevada and Georgia. By Election Day, he is likely to have made 20 stops, Republican strategist Scott Reed said.

"In this phase of the game, it's about winning a day in the news, and a visit by the president will about guarantee you win the day," Reed said. He called Bush's agenda "a last-minute flurry to limit the losses ... and keep the House from going Democrat."

Hennessy-Fiske reported from Indiana and Gerstenzang from Washington, D.C. Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.