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Bush Begins Tour of Battleground States
U.S. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush began a six-day tour of battleground states Monday, focusing on education, tax relief, health care and Social Security to court middle-class voters.
The trip began with a visit to a hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, where Bush stressed his plan to double the child tax credit from the existing 500 dollars to 1,000 dollars.
"Mine is a plan that speaks to the aspirations and hopes of middle-class families," Bush told staff and guests at St. Vincent's Center for Women and Children.
This week's trip was planned as a "metaphor of life," with each day representing a new stage in an individual's development, from birth to retirement, Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
The states covered this week have a combined total of 160 Electoral College votes out of the 270 needed to win the White House.
The Bush campaign Sunday also released a 16-page booklet called "Blueprint for the Middle Class" outlining Bush's position on issues important to the middle-income voters.
Bush launched his issue-based campaign after he has been trailing his Democratic rival Al Gore in the national polls for several weeks.
He will also campaign this week in Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida and appear twice on television talk shows.
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