Bush Turns to Women for Help
— -- Starting Wednesday, a rotating cast of the GOP’s best-known women, including George W. Bush’s wife and mother — the former first lady Barbara Bush — will stump on his behalf in a series of pivotal states.
By Gayle TzemachABCNEWS.COM
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 16 — Demonstrating George W. Bush’s desire to bridge the so-called gender gap in the polls, the Republican presidential candidate is rolling out his most ambitious effort yet to grab both the media’s attention and women’s votes in one fell swoop. Starting Wednesday, a rotating cast of the GOP’s best-known women, including the candidate’s wife, Laura Bush, and his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, will stump on his behalf in a series of pivotal states.
Dubbed the “W Stands for Women” tour by the campaign, the group will also include Lynne Cheney, wife of Bush’s running mate, Dick Cheney; Bush’s foreign policy adviser, Condoleezza Rice; and Cindy McCain, wife of Arizona Sen. John McCain, Bush’s main rival in the GOP primaries.
Bush aides say the purpose of the tour is to tout his record as governor of Texas on “key issues for women,” including education, health care, safety for women, and Social Security.
An ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll released earlier this month showed Bush’s Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, leading among women, 56 percent to 38 percent. Bush held the lead among men, 53 percent to 40 percent.
Education a Key Theme
The three-day extravaganza — covering Wednesday, Thursday, and next Monday — kicks off Wednesday in Michigan, highlighting education issues, especially the state’s school voucher initiative.
The day’s events should put some of the principals in the tour on familiar ground, as both Laura Bush and Barbara Bush are known literacy advocates, while Lynne Cheney has worked to establish national standards for history instruction in the United States.
Thursday, the tour will move to Pennsylvania for a half-day of events, with Mrs. Cheney and Barbara and Laura Bush campaigning in suburban Philadelphia, where the GOP nominee is believed to have hemorrhaged votes to Gore and is now trying to win them back.
Bush is still hopeful of winning Pennsylvania and its 23 Electoral College votes despite trailing Gore slightly in state polls.
On Monday, the trip resumes for a final day in Wisconsin, with Mrs. McCain replacing Barbara Bush. The series of events will close with George W. Bush joining the three women at a campaign event Monday evening in Milwaukee.
Apart from former President George Bush, retired Gen. Colin Powell, and Sen. McCain, these women are the Bush campaign’s highest-profile surrogates.
The tour comes as Bush is employing an increasing number of allies to fan out around the country on his behalf. On Sunday, the Bush campaign announced that 29 of the country’s 30 GOP governors will campaign on his behalf for three days next week.