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Bush detours to campaign in Virginia governor's race

Posted on: Monday, 7 November 2005, 21:02 CST

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - President George W. Bush took a detour to Virginia on his way back from Latin America on Monday to try to give Republican Jerry Kilgore an election-eve boost in his deadlocked race for governor.

Despite his own political woes and declining popularity, Bush hoped to rally Republicans to vote on Tuesday in a contest that polls show is too close to call and in which turnout could be crucial for Kilgore and his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine.

"We're not taking anything for granted. Laura and I are here to ask you to turn out to vote tomorrow for Jerry Kilgore," Bush told a rally in a hangar at Richmond International Airport after a flight from Panama at the end of a Latin America swing that also included Argentina and Brazil.

Bush called Kilgore "a man of character and integrity" with a record Virginians can count on. "And equally important, you know he doesn't need to run a poll to tell him what to think," Bush added.

Kaine and Kilgore, a former state attorney general, were battling to succeed incumbent governor and potential 2008 Democratic presidential contender, Mark Warner, in the Republican-leaning southern state.

Warner is barred by state law from seeking a second term.

With Bush's poll numbers plummeting and beset by problems like the war in Iraq, the bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina and the indictment of a senior White House aide in the CIA leak probe, Democrats hoped the president's 11th-hour appearance for Kilgore would instead motivate their own supporters.

Some political analysts have suggested that even Republicans might try to distance themselves from Bush now that his job approval rating is at an all-time low.

Kilgore welcomed Bush as "a great leader for our commonwealth and for our country."

"We are only hours away of bringing conservative leadership back to Richmond," Kilgore said, as he introduced Bush to hundreds of cheering supporters at the airport rally.

Late last month, Kilgore avoided a Bush speech on anti-terrorism in Norfolk, Virginia, a move that was widely regarded as a sign that the president might do more harm than good in a close race.

Kilgore, whose early lead in polls has slipped to a statistical tie, has warned voters that Kaine will raise taxes and is too far to the left on social issues such as gun control, immigration, and, most prominently, the death penalty.

The governor's race in Virginia and another in New Jersey are the biggest contests in this election season and will be watched closely for evidence of how the mounting political struggles of Bush and national Republicans are influencing voters.

Source: REUTERS

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