President Bush and his Democratic Party Rival John Kerry both campaigned in friendly territory Friday. Mr. Bush wooed Cuban-American voters in Miami, Florida, while Senator Kerry visited the suburbs of San Francisco, California.
The president found a receptive audience in Miami. The crowd cheered as he vowed to keep pressure on Cuba's Fidel Castro. "When it comes to a firm policy on Cuba we are getting the job done. When it comes to electing a president, put somebody back in office who can get the job done," he said.
It was but one stop on a long campaign tour leading up to the Republican convention next week in New York City. The president is making speeches and holding rallies along the way to the convention in a number of states where the race is close - states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa.
Senator Kerry is spending most of his time in the same parts of the country. But on Friday he visited a Democratic Party bastion - the San Francisco area.
He spoke at a town meeting on the economy, and focused his remarks on new figures that show the nation's economic growth is proving at a slower pace than expected. He said the Bush administration has no plans to deal with the record budget deficit and create good jobs. "John Edwards and I believe we should stop downsizing the dreams and possibilities of America and should start doing a better job putting people back to work," he said.
The Bush campaign countered that the United States created 1.5 million new jobs in the last year, and accused John Kerry of waging a campaign of pessimism.