Trail Bytes
As the presidential race heads into the home stretch, CBS News reporters are out on the road traveling with the Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards campaigns.
Read their dispatches and keep up with the latest campaign news in Trail Bytes, updated daily on CBSNews.com
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
As he heads further west today to Nevada and California, President Bush is leveling a new attack on John Kerry.
He accuses the Massachusetts Democrat of a politically motivated flip-flop on forest legislation important to the West.
Mr. Bush said that when he signed the Healthy Forests Restoration Act last year, Kerry, "said we're taking a chainsaw to public forests."
But in remarks Wednesday evening to a campaign rally in Phoenix, Mr. Bush portrayed Kerry as changing his position when he came out West to campaign.
"I guess it's not only the wildfires that shift with the wind," said Mr. Bush to wildly enthusiastic cheers from his supporters.
He also ratcheted up the voltage of his attacks on Kerry's understanding of the war on terror, portraying him as one who doesn't have what it takes.
"His logic is upside-down and it shows a dangerous misunderstanding of the enemy we face," said Mr. Bush.
Introduced at the rally by both of Arizona's Republican senators John Kyl and John McCain, Mr. Bush declared that he understands the West and the issues important to it.
It's a claim that carries him into Nevada and California. He'll roll the dice at a campaign rally in Las Vegas and collect big money at a Republican fund-raiser in Los Angeles tonight.
No one needs to remind Candidate Bush that he lost California last time by over a million votes in 2000. And though Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger now serves as the state's governor, there's no sign the Bush campaign thinks it can win California's precious prize of 55 electoral votes.
In fact, there's no campaign rally scheduled in the state for Mr. Bush – only an interview with Larry King and the fund-raiser for the Republican National Committee.
--Mark Knoller
SEN. JOHN KERRY, D-MASS.
Wednesday afternoon, Kerry's caravan made a stop in Baker, Calif., the self-proclaimed "Gateway to Death Valley," where he greeted a crowd outside the Bun Boy Restaurant and in the shadow of the world's tallest thermometer.
Upon his arrival, two National Park Rangers gave him a brief tour of the Mojave National Preserve's info center, where the thermometer is located.
The 134-foot-tall temperature gauge located just off Interstate 15 read 114 degrees as Kerry's eight-bus caravan pulled up shortly before 3 p.m. Pacific time. Within minutes, the temperature rose to 115 degrees causing reporters to muse whether the up-tick in temperature was a result of the heat generated by the convoy of buses or by the hot air coming from the candidate.
Approximately 100 people turned out to see Kerry and not all of them were supporters, as several Bush-Cheney '04 signs were spotted, including one in the registration office window of the adjacent Bun Boy Motel.
"Go back to Massachusetts," shouted one of his detractors to whom Kerry just waved and continued talking with his fans.
After a few minutes, Kerry stepped into the restaurant to order a milk shake to go, shaking a few more hands and posing for pictures on his way to the counter.
"You're very photogenic," a waitress told the candidate as his photo was being snapped.
He thanked her but tried to temper her enthusiasm saying, "You haven't seen the results yet."
At just after 7 p.m. Pacific time, Kerry's convoy hit the West Coast, arriving in Santa Monica, Calif., 12 days after setting out from Boston on his post-convention tour. "Isn't it great," said Kerry upon arrival as he pointed to the ocean.
Thursday, Kerry delivers a speech on the economy at Cal State-Dominguez Hills before hopping back on his campaign plane for the first time in a week to fly to Oregon. There, he will hold rallies Thursday night and Friday in Medford and Eugene before officially ending his tour with a rally in Portland. He'll hit the water on Saturday, doing a bit a windsurfing in the Columbia River Gorge, conveniently creating a photo opportunity smack on the border between two battleground states, Oregon and Washington.
--Steve Chaggaris
VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY
Vice President Cheney likes the "town hall" style campaign stops and enjoys the Q&A sessions. He's done three of them in the last four days of campaigning, sitting by himself in the center of several hundred people. On Wednesday, though, he made it a family affair.
He was introduced by his daughter Liz Cheney Perry to the audience in Joplin, Missouri, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in this hotly contested state.
"On the way here on the plane I asked my Mom and Dad, 'You know, I'm going to be introducing you. Do you have any words of wisdom?" she opened. "They came up with this very loving parental advice: 'Liz, Missouri is so important, please don't screw this up.'"
The crowd laughed but soon erupted in cheers as the vice president and Lynne took the stage, grabbed the two mics and sat down. They let everyone know that they were both there to answer questions.
"This is really fun for us because, you know, it's kind of unpredictable, unexpected," she said.
Both of Cheney's daughters and his wife have taken active rolls in the campaign this election year. Lynne often introduces the vice president before rallies, treating the audience to cute stories about how the two met or their early dating life back in Wyoming forty years ago.
Cheney's daughter Mary is part of his staff and at times can be seen pacing just offstage as her father addresses supporters.
But it's his eldest daughter Liz that literally brings a little special something to this week's campaigning. Philip Richard Perry, the vice president's five-week-old grandson is participating in his first election. Liz carries him on and off Air Force Two in his infant car seat, and he was spotted offstage today, enjoying a bottle during his grandpa's speech.
It didn't matter that it was the vice president of the United States speaking: it was time for Philip's fill-up.
--Josh Gross