ANFORD, Fla. - Just 13 days before an election that may be the closest in decades, George W. Bush spent a full day yesterday in Florida, spending time to court seniors and students. It was a state he had once expected to carry handily.
Sticking to the familiar, Bush held two large rallies. He championed his Social Security and Medicare plans. And he bashed Al Gore, saying Gore had not brought results on either issue in his eight years as vice president.
Bush's careful steps signaled how precarious his position is; both campaigns are aware that one false move now could shift the direction of the race for good.
Bush's trip to Florida, coinciding with Al Gore's campaign swing through his native Tennessee, was another sign of a dead heat.
No longer certain his brother Jeb, governor of Florida, can secure the electorate on his behalf, George W. joined him for a day's bus tour across a central thoroughfare. He brought along extra firepower in Senator John S. McCain.
''I told my brother we're going to win Florida,'' Jeb Bush said, introducing his older brother to a screaming crowd at Seminole Community College in this town just north of Orlando. ''And we're going to do it.''
Winning Florida is just about a must if Bush hopes to win the presidency. Realizing how crucial the state's 25 electoral votes are, Bush pursued one of its most powerful groups: the elderly.
Fending off a harsh Gore attack last week, Bush defended his Social Security plan, and accused Gore of using ''scare tactics'' to influence voters in his speeches and TV ads.
''They think they can frighten people. Halloween's right around the corner. They're trying to politically scare people into the booths,'' Bush said. ''But not this time, Mr. Gore, not this year.''
Bush took several detours to cover his usual speechmaking terrain - restoring the military, cutting taxes. But he returned time and again to the elderly. He focused a third of his speech on Medicare, and he mocked Gore's proposal to include a prescription drug benefit in the program.
Bush canceled a question-and-answer session in favor of his usual speech, but he used a new retort to challenge the administration's record on Medicare.
''I want to remind you all that the vice president is going around the country saying, `You ain't seen nothin' yet,''' Bush said, referring to both the song and the phrase Gore frequently uses. ''I agree, Mr. Vice President. We ain't seen nothin' yet.''
Today Bush is scheduled to travel to Pennsylvania and to Detroit suburbs, before he heads to Wisconsin tomorrow. He is planning to return home to Austin on Sunday, before he heads into the final pre-election stretch.
The Bush campaign has expressed concern about the scheduled release today of 420 hours of former President Nixon's secret White House tapes that include the voice of the presidential candidate's father.
The elder Bush is heard talking, or is talked about, in more than 100 of the 4,140 conversations that are to be made public by the National Archives, according to a listing prepared by the archives. The tapes carry conversations that occurred in late 1971, when former President Bush was US ambassador to the United Nations.
''We did call to express concern, you bet,'' Bush campaign spokesman Ari Fleischer said last night. ''We do have an ongoing concern about whether this administration is going to create external events to influence the outcome of this election.''
Florida is a must-win for Bush. This is why he has visited at least once a week since Labor Day, and why he is likely to come back before Nov. 7.
McCain accompanied Bush to Florida, even though he had not campaigned there for the primaries. The Arizona Republican is expected to appeal to the large number of military families who live there and to elderly veterans.
Although their relationship has been tense occasionally since their primary battle, McCain lauded Bush yesterday, saying the country needs ''a steady hand on the tiller ... a commander the men and women will look up to and respect.''
At one point, however, McCain's tongue slipped - and he referred to Bush as Gore.
''Governor Bush's message to young people is there is nobility in serving a cause greater than your self-interest,'' McCain said. ''And that's what a Gore-Cheney presidency means.''
Audience members were quick to shout down his mistake.
