Heavy Hitters Put Florida In Focus

President Bush on Saturday implored Democrats, independents and "people who don't give a hoot about politics" to back GOP candidates as he headed to Florida to compete with Bill Clinton for votes in the fiercely fought governor's race.

The 42nd and 43rd presidents were immersing themselves in a contest Democrats say is an Election Day priority: toppling Gov. Jeb Bush. Joining the cause Monday, after Mr. Clinton's weekend campaigning, was Al Gore.

The mid-term elections are crucial this year, since they will determine who controls Congress as well as the occupants of scores of statehouses.

A CBS News/New York Times poll released Saturday shows the current president's presence being felt to a significant degree in campaigns nationwide.

About half the registered voters surveyed, a higher than usual number, say Mr. Bush will be on their minds when they enter the voting booth on Tuesday. Some 40 percent say he will not be a factor in their vote.

His impact will be more positive than negative -- 31 percent say theirs will be a vote for Mr. Bush, and 19 percent say it will be a vote against him.

Democrats see the election Tuesday of Bill McBride over the president's brother in Florida as a way to embarrass the White House and damage George W. Bush's re-election prospects in 2004.

"They're going to roll out every gun they have to win in Florida," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Added Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor: "It's the duel of the presidents."

With an evening rally in Tampa, Fla., Mr. Bush was ending an 1,800-mile, 12½-hour day of politicking through Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. It was part of a demanding get-out-the-vote itinerary he has undertaken to close out a year of aggressive campaigning for the GOP.

As CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller put it, "Nowhere does the president's name appear on a ballot this year - but he's campaigning as though it does."

Knoller points out that the president is trying to buck the historical trend of the party of the president suffering losses in midterm elections.

The bitter 2000 presidential race against Gore was a presence throughout Mr. Bush's travels.

"I got a fond spot in my heart for Tennessee, if you know what I mean," he said in Blountville, Tenn. Bush won Gore's home state in the election two years ago.

The Republican faithful packed his audiences, but Mr. Bush sought to broaden his message. GOP activists, he said, should "talk it up with people who may not pay attention to politics as much as we do" and reach out to "discerning Democrats."

"I'm traveling the country reminding Republicans, Democrats, people who don't give a hoot about politics to do their duty, and go to the polls," Mr. Bush said. In an election season refrain, he added that he had some "suggestions" once voters arrived to vote.

In Tennessee Saturday, he promoted Rep. Van Hilleary in his close contest for governor against Democrat Phil Bredesen, and Lamar Alexander, who challenged Mr. Bush for the 2000 presidential nomination and who leads Democratic Rep. Bob Clement for Tennessee's open Senate seat.

In Marietta, Ga., Mr. Bush boosted Sonny Perdue, a former Democratic president of the state Senate, in his campaign to unseat Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes, the favorite. Bush also made an appeal for Rep. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., trying to oust Democratic Sen. Max Cleland.

"It's time to quit the sermonizing and it's time to pass the plate," Bush said.

In Savannah - his third speech of the day, and second in an airplane hangar - Bush called on "grassroots types, people that understand politics" to get voters to the polls.

But most of the attention Saturday was on appearances by Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton and Gore in Florida. Mr. Bush has raised millions of dollars for his brother this year, and has visited the state a dozen times, usually with Jeb at his side.

Mr. Clinton planned three events late Saturday with McBride.

Gore has made the Florida recount, which decided the White House, a staple of his get-out-the-vote efforts.

"If anybody ever tells you that one vote doesn't count, talk to me about it," Gore said Friday in West Orange, N.J.

Before his stumping Saturday, Mr. Bush used his last weekly radio address before the election to criticize delays by the Democratic-controlled Senate in considering his judicial nominations and to promote new procedures he proposed to speed the process.

Meanwhile Saturday, the president used his last weekly radio address before the election to decry the Senate's slowness to consider his judicial nominations and tout new procedures he first proposed on Wednesday.

Mr. Bush wants all parties involved - federal judges, the president and Senate leaders - to commit to a firm timetable.

Judges would give at least a year's notice of retirement if possible, followed by the president sending a nomination to the Senate within 180 days. Once the Senate received a nomination, it would hold a hearing within 90 days and an up-or-down floor vote within another 90 days.

Democrats are unlikely to accept that plan, saying they need less divisive judicial nominees, not "arbitrary" deadlines. They also smelled politics.

"It's pretty telling that on the weekend before the election Bush is giving an address so clearly designed to pander to the Republicans' right-wing base," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri.

Democrats used their weekly radio address to urge voters to think domestically when they cast ballots Tuesday.

Democratic U-S Senate candidate Tom Strickland of Colorado said economic challenges cannot fall by the wayside while the war on terror continues.