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I know Jim Greeley.


Bush makes up for slight of small Wisconsin town


RICHLAND CENTER, Wis. — Sometimes running for president means giving serious speeches to cheering crowds at big rallies. Sometimes it means hanging out in a fragrant barn and visiting a tiny town to atone for a slight.


President Bush had the second sort of day Tuesday.
He rode a bus across Wisconsin and into Iowa, gave three speeches, talked about his economic policies and attacked Sen. John Kerry. But his quest for Wisconsin's 10 Electoral College votes also provided some moments that were unusual in the final week of a presidential campaign.
The first came in early morning, when his cavalcade stopped nearby at the side of County Road EE, where a few dozen supporters were gathered at John and Connie Turgasen's dairy farm. Bush made the obligatory tour of the Turgasens' white barn, where Holsteins were on duty in their stanchions, before posing for photos with four generations of Turgasens.
It wasn't merely a social call. Photos and video footage of Bush looking comfortable in the workaday milieu were designed to signal to Wisconsin voters that the president is attuned to their lives and concerns.
Later, Bush found an opening to ingratiate himself with the state's football fans and remind them that Kerry had referred to the Green Bay Packers' stadium as "Lambert Field" during an August visit.
Jim Greeley, who was supposed to talk with Bush about his sign company during a discussion of Bush's tax cuts, asked the president, "Did you see the Packer-Dallas game?" The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 41-20 on Sunday.
"I saw that, and I know the Wisconsin Badgers are undefeated," Bush said. "And let me tell you what else I know. I know the Packers beat Dallas at Lambeau Field."
The Bush campaign is running a new radio ad in Wisconsin that hammers home the message. The ad, which says Kerry's dairy policies would cost Wisconsin farmers money, starts with one man saying to another, "That John Kerry just doesn't get it." His friend replies, "Oh, the Packer thing."
Bush's next stop was in Cuba City, whose 2,174 residents were miffed last May when they got decked out in hopes of a presidential stop only to watch Bush's bus sail right through town. The snub was no small matter for Cuba City, the self-anointed "City of Presidents." Its lampposts bear signs that feature every U.S. president's silhouette, years of service and home state. Until Tuesday, though, no president had visited.
Kerry made matters worse for Bush in August, when his bus tour made a detour so he could stop in Cuba City.
Bush didn't apologize Tuesday, but he tried to smooth things over. "A few months ago, I was the first sitting president to pass through Cuba City," he said. "Today, I'm the first sitting president to stop in and give a speech. And I'm looking forward to signing my name to the shield of the 43rd president."
Mayor Richard Davis said all was forgiven. Having a president pass through town twice in a year is "a one-in-a-million chance," he said.
Deadly serious electoral calculations lie behind Bush's lighthearted moments. Bush lost Wisconsin by 5,708 votes in 2000. This year, the state's electoral votes are part of his back-up plan in case he loses Ohio, a state he carried in 2000 but where concerns about the economy have given Kerry momentum.
In the Electoral College, Bush must get 270 votes to be elected. Ohio has 20. If he loses it, he hopes to compensate by winning states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000: Wisconsin's 10 votes, seven more in Iowa, and maybe New Hampshire's four or Minnesota's 10.
It's a strategy with little margin for error, and it's the underpinning of Bush's itinerary for the final days of the campaign. He'll be in New Hampshire on Friday. He'll be in Minnesota and back in Wisconsin on Saturday.