With just four days to go before nationwide elections, President Bush is continuing to campaign for Republican candidates for Congress and state governors. The president's party is trying to regain control of the U.S. Senate.
In a campaign push to election day, President Bush is visiting 17 cities, before voting next Tuesday near his home in Crawford, Texas.
The president is hoping his high approval ratings help reverse a trend that usually shows the party in control of the White House losing seats in mid-term elections. Mr. Bush wants to maintain a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and regain a majority in the Senate.
Between campaign stops Friday in the eastern state of Pennsylvania and the southern state of Kentucky, the president rallied Republicans in the northern state of New Hampshire, where Congressman John Sununu is battling Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
"We have got a lot of hurdles that we have got to cross here in America, but there is no question in my mind that we can cross them," said Mr. Bush. "That's what I want to talk to you about. Part of it depends on who you elect to the Senate. Part of it depends on the will and desire of the American people."
It was the president's standard campaign speech, promising better education and health care, lower taxes, and a continuing fight against terrorism. Mr. Bush regularly draws the biggest cheers on the campaign trail by calling for action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Friday, he again urged the United Nations to pass a tough resolution on Iraq, saying he will lead his own coalition against Baghdad, if the Security Council does not.
"If the United Nations will not act, if Saddam Hussein will not disarm, in the name of peace, and in the name of freedom, the United States of America will lead a coalition to disarm him," said Mr. Bush.
The president is not alone in his push toward election day. Vice President Dick Cheney Friday campaigned in the states of Indiana, Minnesota, and Colorado. First lady Laura Bush spoke for Republican candidates in North Carolina.
Mrs. Bush and Vice President Cheney both will campaign over the weekend in South Dakota, where Republicans are close to picking-up a Senate seat in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Democrat Tom Daschle.