Bush Touches Base With His Core Supporters

DALLAS —  President Bush was warmly embraced Tuesday by a prominent Roman Catholic fraternal group as he promised to continue fighting to limit abortion, ban same-sex marriage and preserve the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Bush’s remarks to the Knights of Columbus came three weeks after social conservatives suffered a setback when the Senate thwarted a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage -- a vote that prompted some on the political right to complain that the White House had not been vocal enough.

“You have a friend in this administration,” Bush told the annual convention of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s charity with 1.7 million members worldwide. “You have somebody who wants to work with you to change America for the better.”

Bush recited a litany of social issues on which he, the Knights and other religious conservatives agree. His appearance was marked by repeated chants from the crowd of “Four more years!”

The president noted that the Knights of Columbus was among the groups that sided with the White House this year in urging the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling that would have removed the words “under God” from the pledge.

“I appreciate your working to protect the Pledge of Allegiance, to keep us ‘one nation under God,’ ” Bush said.

He added: “I want to thank you for the defense of the traditional family. That is a most fundamental institution for our society. I appreciate the fact you’re promoting the culture of life.”

Bush did not mention Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry, who differs with the president on several social issues. For instance, while the Massachusetts senator personally is against legalizing same-sex marriages, he opposed the proposed constitutional ban.

Kerry referred obliquely to the same-sex marriage battle last week in his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, calling on Bush to agree with him to “never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States.”

Bush’s appearance Tuesday signaled that he did not intend to forget his conservative base, even as he and Kerry courted undecided voters.

On Tuesday, the president mentioned two new laws opposed by Kerry that were especially important to religious conservatives: a ban on a late-term abortion procedure that critics call “partial-birth abortion,” and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which makes it a separate offense to harm an “unborn child” while committing a violent federal crime against a pregnant woman. Bush signed both measures into law. But judges in several jurisdictions have blocked the enforcement of the abortion restriction, and the law will likely wind up before the Supreme Court.

Bush on Tuesday said: “This law is constitutional. This law is compassionate. This law is urgently needed. And my administration will vigorously defend it in the courts.”

The president did not mention another major cause for religious conservatives: limiting federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The issue has proven complicated for Republicans in the wake of the death of former President Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, and his son’s appearance at the Democratic convention attacking the limited federal support for stem cell research.

A spokesman for Kerry said Tuesday that Bush’s priorities were misplaced.

“Voters of all faiths want a president who is going to be straight with them and work hard to pursue policies that improve the lives of their families,” Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said. “John Kerry is the only candidate who has a plan to deal with rising health costs and ensure that schools have the resources they need to ensure that no child is left behind.”

Bush’s address to one of the nation’s most prominent Catholic groups gave him the chance to make an appeal to one of the most sought-after voting blocs in the presidential election.

While Kerry is Catholic, Republican strategists think that his support of abortion rights will motivate many Catholics to back Bush.

Bush’s speech kicked off a three-day campaign swing that will take him to Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Michigan this week. Strategists say he will use his appearances to start to lay out his agenda for a second term.

On Tuesday, the Bush campaign began airing a television ad on national cable and in a few key local markets that struck a positive tone about Bush’s job performance.

Besides giving Bush a chance to spend the night at his ranch near Crawford, the trip to Texas gave him the chance to help raise $1.6 million at a reception before his Dallas speech -- money that would go to the Republican National Committee.