PITTSBURGH Urban League hears Bush's economic pitch

He garnered just 9 percent of the black vote in the 2000 election.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- President Bush promoted his economic policies Monday as a way to "greater opportunity and hope" in an appeal to black Americans who were cool to his candidacy in 2000. His Democratic opponents reminded the same audience that thousands of blacks have lost their jobs during Bush's presidency.
"I think the president has a bad case of wishful thinking," said Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt. "This president's economic program is a disaster and a failure."
Monday's conference at the National Urban League marked the first time Bush and his rivals for the White House addressed the same group, but their paths did not cross. The seven Democratic candidates who agreed to appear at the forum were scheduled some five hours after the president.
All the discussion of the economy is a preview of a theme that is sure to continue into next year's election unless the jobless rate quickly improves. Democrats are banking that pocketbook issues will turn voters against the popular president the same way they turned against his father in 1992.
Loyal to Democrats
Although the Urban League is concerned with promoting business opportunity as well as civil rights, Bush was wading into one of the most loyal Democratic constituencies by appearing before a mostly black audience. In 2000, Al Gore captured 90 percent of the black vote to Bush's 9 percent.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who hitched a ride to Pittsburgh with the president, said Bush needs to attract more than 9 percent of the black vote if he is to win re-election next year. "I don't think 9 percent is sufficient," Specter told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Bush told the Urban League that the economy is showing signs of improvement and urged Congress to approve languishing legislation to help low-income Americans and those having a hard time finding work.
"Greater opportunity and hope begins with a growing economy," Bush told the conference.
The president also touted his fight on terrorism, his tax cuts and his initiatives to pull religious groups into government-financed social service programs. He also decried the gap in test scores between black and white students.
"We must challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations," he said. "And you know what I'm talking about."
Polite response
His remarks drew a full conference hall and polite applause.
Less than half the crowd stuck around for the Democratic candidate forum in the evening. But the audience offered more enthusiastic support at times as they criticized Bush's record on the economy, education and health care.
"This morning you got a lot of Bush, but not a lot of beef," said Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.
"He doesn't share our values," North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said of the president. "He honors and respects only one thing -- wealth. And he wants to make sure that those who have it, keep it."
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was one of several candidates to criticize Bush for opposing the affirmative-action admissions programs at the University of Michigan.
"The president played the race card and he had the nerve to come before the National Urban League to ask for your help and your support," Dean said.