Date:   5/2/2003 8:01:52 AM ( 22 y ago)
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Bush Pushes Focus on National Security
1 hour, 17 minutes ago

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By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN - After declaring the Iraq (news - web sites) war's heaviest combat over, President Bush
(news - web sites) is aiming to keep the nation firmly focused on national security even as he makes a feel-your-pain swing through the
recession-plagued Silicon Valley.

Bush is having breakfast with officers on the USS Abraham Lincoln just off San Diego Friday morning, then
traveling to Northern California, where opposition to his policies, particularly on the war, runs high. Silicon
Valley is on the southern fringe of the San Francisco bay area, the heart of the West's anti-war movement.

Bush will steer clear of San Francisco, where hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the street during the
war. He's instead visiting friendlier territory: United Defense Industries, developer of the Bradley Fighting
Vehicle, in Santa Clara, Calif. The fast, high-tech troop transporters were heavily used in Iraq.

The visit followed a formula the president has developed in the period following the war and the run-up to his
re-election campaign: He uses a defense contractor as the setting for a speech that bridges the seemingly
disparate themes of the economy and national security.

Last month he did the same thing at a Boeing plant in St. Louis and at a tank manufacturer in Lima, Ohio.

Some of Bush's fellow Republicans have said Bush is shifting gears to focus more intensely on rehabilitating
the economy. But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) dismissed talk of such a "pivot,"
saying both issues are top priorities for Bush.

"The war on terror remains an important national priority to protect our country and protect our people,"
Fleischer said. "Economic security is also at the heart and soul of what he is working on."

Bush was picking up Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Northern California and ferrying him back to
Bush's central Texas ranch for a weekend summit. It was a highly visible thank-you gesture to a faithful ally in
the Iraq war. In contrast, Bush scrubbed a visit planned for Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Jean
Chretien, who questioned Bush's path on Iraq.

Instead of meeting with Chretien, Bush was making a quick pass Monday through Arkansas, a state he only
narrowly won in the 2000 election.

Bush lost California, the state with the most electoral votes, in 2000. He has visited five times as president,
most recently in August. California Republicans have pleaded for more appearances, insisting Bush can
compete vigorously for the state next year. Some White House officials privately say Bush cannot capture
California, though.

Thursday, off the California coast, Bush reveled in a fervently supportive crowd. Thousands of sailors greeted
the commander in chief enthusiastically, their mood ebullient as they approached land after a nearly 10-month
deployment.

Bush rode shotgun aboard a Viking refueling plane to the carrier about 30 miles offshore. He took the controls
for a third of the flight, keeping the aircraft pointed straight ahead. "I miss flying, I can tell you that," he told reporters.

Bush roamed the deck as dozens of fighters took off on their last flights of the deployment. The carrier shuddered with each launch, and a
furnace-like blast of hot air swept across the deck. A great cheer went up from the crew after the last jet had taken off — a celebration of a
100,000-mile journey nearing completion.

Bush, too, seemed to savor the moment.

In the minutes before the speech, he stood on deck alone, one hand on the rail, absorbing the vista of the Southern California coast.

The sailors' journey was a little longer due to Bush's trip: The carrier slowed down so that Bush could spend the night on board before it
docked Friday.

But they seemed grateful for Bush's appearance. Their loudest applause came when Bush said, "Americans, following a battle, want nothing
more than to return home. That is your direction tonight."

"Being stuck at sea for 9 1/2 months, you start to wonder what's going on in the heads of the people above you," said Petty Ofcr. 2nd Class
Richard Modicus. "This shows we're not forgotten."
 

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