The Hindu Business Line : Our policies the best to boost economy: Bush

WITH Republicans in Democratic territory in New York for the start of their political convention today, the major contenders for the November 2 showdown are focussing on the economy and jobs even if there is a feeling that this area has not been adequately focussed.

The incumbent Republican Mr George W. Bush, on his way to New York, said in Ohio that American manufacturing workers have seen a "time of change," an acknowledgement that the economy has taken a hit in the last few years. At the same time, the President maintained that his policies were the best to boost economic growth.

"When it comes to expanding our economy, defeating the recession, we're getting the job done," Mr Bush told a rally in Troy, Ohio, over the weekend. The President and the White House are acutely aware of the importance of Ohio to November 2 and there is a feeling that this State might actually call the final shot in the Presidential election.

Ohio is said to have lost some 250,000 jobs since Mr Bush took office in January 2001 and its unemployment rate hovers around 6 per cent, above the national average of 5.5 per cent. Ohio is a "must carry" State for the Republican incumbent; Mr Bush has visited the State 22 times since taking office; and the weekend visit was the fourth in August. Mr Bush carried the State in 2000.

From the West Coast, the Democratic challenger attacked the Bush administration's economic policies highlighting the fact that a federal government report has revised the economic growth rate in the second quarter to 2.8 per cent from the previously reported 3 per cent. The Census Bureau reported that as many as 1.3 million Americans slipped into poverty in 2003 as the category of poor rose 4 per cent to nearly 36 million, the highest level since 1998.

"I don't believe that four years of lost jobs, lower wages, higher health care costs, higher tuitions and tax cuts for the few are the best we can do," Mr Kerry said in a statement.

The Bush campaign and administration officials are well aware of the state of the economy but are keeping a positive spin on the subject for obvious political reasons. "There are signs of softness, but there are also signs of optimism in the economy," the President's Chief of Staff, Mr Andrew Card, has said.