Failed N.J. Candidate Blames Bush

The Republican who lost New Jersey's bitter gubernatorial race said he would have won had President Bush's popularity not been sagging.

Doug Forrester, who lost to Democrat Jon Corzine by about 9 percentage points last week, told The Sunday Star-Ledger of Newark that dissatisfaction with Mr. Bush made it impossible for him to overcome the Democrats' advantages.

"If Bush's numbers were where they were a year ago, or even six months ago, I think we would have won on Tuesday," Forrester said.

Mr. Bush's approval rating is at the lowest of his presidency and he faces a host of difficulties, including the war in Iraq, the response to Hurricane Katrina, soaring fuel prices and the CIA leak investigation.

White House communication director Dan Bartlett dismissed the notion that Mr. Bush cost Forrester the election.

"The fact of the matter is New Jersey has been a key Democratic stronghold for many years. The issues waged during this campaign were one of a local nature," Bartlett told CBS News' The Early Show.

Bartlett also said Republican candidates would not shy away from campaigning with the president in the coming year.

"At this time in the election cycle, people are going to be pointing fingers and all that," Bartlett said. "But this president and Republican Congress are going to join and put forward a positive agenda that the American people will trust. That's why we will be successful and President Bush will lead the way."

An AP-Ipsos voter survey last week presented a cloudy picture of the reasons for Forrester's loss. Only about 20 percent of all voters surveyed cited opposition to Mr. Bush as a reason for their vote in the governor's race.