Bush hurries back to rally voters in Pa.

The president repeated many themes of his convention speech.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
MOOSIC, Pa. -- After a boisterous send-off from the Republican convention, President Bush returned to the campaign trail today, telling a rally that he's the choice to build America's economy and keep the country safe from terrorists.
Bush departed New York immediately after his Madison Square Garden speech and traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he told an enthusiastic audience that "we're coming down the stretch in this race."
"It's going to come down to the record we built, the convictions we hold and the vision that guides us forward," he said.
Bush repeated many of the themes of his convention speech, pledging to grow the economy and reform health care while remaining resolute in the fight against terrorism.
"If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade the world will drift toward tragedy," he said. "This will not happen on my watch."
Unemployment numbers
Bush hailed new figures showing the unemployment rate dropped slightly to 5.4 percent while the economy added 144,000 jobs last month.
That figure was slightly below projections by economists.
"Overall, we've added about 1.7 million jobs since August 2003. The unemployment rate is down to 5.4 percent. That's nearly a full point below the rate last summer and below the average of the 1970s and 1980s and 1990s," he said.
Bush's Democratic rival had a different take on the jobs figures. In a statement, Sen. John Kerry said the numbers mean Bush remains on pace to be the first president since the Great Depression to have no net gain in jobs during his term.
Other "presidents have faced wars and recessions, but not one of them has failed to create a single job," Kerry said.
As he accepted the renomination for president at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, Bush sought to reassure a nation sorting out a controversial war and slowly recovering from economic hard times.
"This moment in the life of our country will be remembered. Generations will know if we kept our faith and kept our word. Generations will know if we seized this moment, and used it to build a future of safety and peace," Bush said.
"The freedom of many, and the future security of our nation, now depend on us. And tonight, my fellow Americans, I ask you to stand with me."
Bitter divide
Bush marches into the last 60 days of the campaign locked in a close race with Kerry. America's bitter political divide was even evident on the convention floor. When hecklers disrupted the president's speech, the GOP delegates drowned them out with chants of "Four More Years!"
Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Manhattan during the convention as they denounced the president's policies and the U.S. death toll in Iraq, which could reach 1,000 by Election Day.
Undaunted, Bush carried on with tough words for the Democrats, saying Kerry was running on a platform of raising taxes. "That's the kind of promise a politician usually keeps," he said.
Bush's overarching message Thursday night was security in a post-Sept. 11 world -- an issue known all too well in New York.
"My fellow Americans, for as long as our country stands, people will look to the resurrection of New York City and they will say: 'Here buildings fell, and here a nation rose,'" Bush said.
"I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty and weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch."
War on terror
In the wake of a Republican convention that portrayed President Bush as a steely, visionary wartime leader -- and pounded Sen. Kerry as dangerously weak and indecisive -- it's clear the Bush campaign is betting that this election will come down to one issue: Which candidate will be tougher in the war on terror?
Polls show the war on terror remains Bush's strongest asset, with the president beating Kerry by as much as 20 points on that count.
"If the message continues as who can lead us through this war on terrorism better, then the president trumps [Kerry]," says independent pollster John Zogby. But "The No. 1 issue among voters is still the economy."
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