Bush Takes Off The Gloves

(CBS/AP)  President Bush - whose $10 million TV ad campaign debuts Thursday - chose Wednesday to take his first direct swings at Democratic rival John Kerry, painting the Massachusetts senator as a candidate who would raise taxes and go soft on terrorism.

On a two-day fundraising sprint through California following the Super Tuesday near-sweep that unofficially secured Kerry's place as the Democratic presidential nominee, Mr. Bush uttered his challenger's name for the first time in this campaign season.

"My opponent says he approves of bold actions in the world, but only if other countries don't object," the Republican incumbent told about 600 donors to his re-election campaign Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the president sought to win over voters by focusing on the compassionate side of his "compassionate conservative" agenda.

Mr. Bush renewed his push to expand religious groups' roles in helping down-and-out Americans, telling 1,500 government and religious leaders, "We're talking about healing our nation, we're not talking politics."

But campaign politics were on full display as President Bush crammed three fund-raisers into a 25-hour California visit, with Wednesday's two events alone netting $4.1 million.

Mr. Bush - who has been trailing in the polls - lobbed his most direct criticism yet at Kerry in the first fund-raiser.

"He's spent two decades in Congress. He's built up quite a record," Bush said, drawing chuckles from 600 donors. "In fact, Senator Kerry has been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue."

CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller reports Mr. Bush drew laughs with that line, and went on to say that he believes his differences with Kerry on tax cuts, job creation, Iraq and other issues will give Americans a clear choice in November.

He repeatedly referred to Kerry as "my opponent," accusing him of wanting to reverse tax cuts and of opposing personal savings accounts and certain Medicare health benefit changes. Kerry agrees with the Bush administration on almost all tax cut issues, with the exception that he has promised to fight to roll back tax reductions for the richest Americans.

"He seems to be against every idea that gives Americans more authority, more choices and more control over our own lives," said Mr. Bush as he campaigned in California Wednesday.

Democrats have argued for months that Mr. Bush has left the poor behind with tax cuts they say were skewed to the rich, and corporate-friendly policies. In his own defense, the president says he has not forgotten the "people in our society with shattered lives," and pointed to religious groups as a different route to tackling "those seemingly intractable problems."

"In spite of the fact that we have large bankrolls, and wealth beyond imagination for many people in the world, in our own society, there's darkness and loneliness and addiction and wonder - wonder whether their life is worth anything," Bush said in his first speech of the day.

The speech on helping the less fortunate took up the first 45 minutes of the president's visit. From there, his appearances late into Wednesday evening were strictly for wealthy Republican donors, including a gathering at the home of A. Jerrold Perenchio, the chairman and chief executive of the Spanish-language media giant Univision.

Although the Bush-Gore ticket lost California's 55 electoral votes by a wide margin in 2000, the election of Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other factors have the White House hoping to manage a better result in November.

Mr. Bush has several other campaign stops in California Thursday, and will then fly to his ranch in Texas, where he will be visited by Mexican President Vicente Fox.