GOP Touts Jobs Effort by Bush
President Bush's reelection campaign moved deeper into its general-election playbook yesterday and launched a preemptive defense of his economic record in Ohio ahead of a visit by his likely opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).
The decision reflects the Bush campaign's growing concern about Ohio, a state he won by 4 percentage points in 2000 but is among the hardest hit by job losses. The move is the latest of near-daily signs Bush's campaign is engaging Kerry as if he were the Democratic nominee.
Labor Department figures show that in 2003, Ohio was second only to another swing state -- Michigan -- in number of jobs lost. In January, Michigan was first and Ohio second in the number of jobs lost in the previous month.
Ohio reporters jammed a conference call that the Bush-Cheney campaign set up yesterday with Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who began by saying he wanted to "set the record straight" about how Bush's economic policies have benefited the state.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49161-2004Feb17.html