Bush touts efforts on jobs, terror in Kerry's back yard

BOSTON - On rival John Kerry's home turf, President Bush defended his record on the jobs and terrorism fronts on Thursday and prodded the Massachusetts senator against taking his own state for granted.

"The man who sits in the Oval Office sets the course of the war on terror and the direction of our economy," Bush told supporters at a $1.2-million fundraising dinner in Kerry's hometown. "The other side hasn't offered much in the way of strategy to win the war or policies to expand our economy."

Accusing Kerry of vacillating on key issues, Bush said: "His answers aren't always so clear, but the voters will have a clear choice in November."

At the $2,000-per-person fundraiser, which brought more money into a campaign that has raised $170-million, Bush added: "Some people would think I wouldn't have a lot of support here. But they're wrong. Nobody should take any state for granted in 2004."

At the fundraiser and earlier in New Hampshire, Bush defended his administration against new allegations that he underestimated the threat from the al-Qaida terror network and then rushed to blame Iraq's Saddam Hussein for the Sept. 11 attacks. He also defended his overseeing of an economy that has lost 2.3-million jobs.

"We're trying to do our solemn duty to protect America," he said at a community college in Nashua, N.H., that specializes in teaching automotive repair.

"Had I known that the enemy was going to use airplanes to strike America, to attack us, I would have used every resource, every asset, every power of this government to protect the American people," Bush said.

It was Bush's first extended response to allegations by Richard Clarke, his former counterterrorism adviser. Clarke has alleged that Bush ignored the threat from al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks and then rushed to try to blame the attacks on Hussein.

In the audience was Cheryl McGinnis, widow of Thomas McGinnis, pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.

Bush recognized her and said actions by his administration since then, including creation of the Department of Homeland Security, had helped the United States and its allies "find terrorists before they try to harm us again."

Bush promoted his plans for retraining laid-off workers while accusing Kerry of pushing higher taxes. He said jobs were beginning to return, and cited recent signs of recovery, like Thursday's Commerce Department report showing a solid 4.1 percent pace of economic growth in the last three months of 2003.

Bush shared the stage with several local business owners who said they had benefited from his job retraining programs and tax cuts.

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