ES MOINES - The next president will ''inherit a military in decline,'' Republican nominee George W. Bush charged yesterday, accusing the Clinton administration of responsibility for readiness and morale problems within the armed forces.
Speaking to more than 5,000 people in Milwaukee at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Texas governor cited a litany of concerns and faulted President Clinton and the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Al Gore.
Among the complaints: soldiers qualifying for food stamps, a shortage of cruise missiles for the Navy, enlistment shortfalls for the Army, and a decline in Air Force readiness from 85 percent of combat units when Clinton took office in 1993 to 65 percent as of Jan. 1.
Bush repeated a vow to add $1 billion in new military pay and unveiled another proposal to spend $310 million improving 20 school districts on or near military bases. Most are in California and Texas.
''The facts are stark and the facts are real,'' said Bush, whose father, President Bush, led the Persian Gulf War and passed stewardship of the armed forces to Clinton. ''The current administration inherited a military ready for the dangers and challenges facing our nation. The next president will inherit a military in decline.''
He then drew applause from his audience of mostly graying veterans by sounding a battle cry for him and his running mate, who is a former defense secretary. ''Dick Cheney and I have a simple message for our men and women in uniform, their parents, their loved ones, their supporters: Help is on the way,'' Bush said.
Gore is scheduled to address the VFW meeting today. His spokesman said Bush could not afford to rebuild the military because his proposed 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut would consume projected budget surpluses.
Gore spokesman Chris Lehane, referring to General Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, and Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, said: ''First of all, General Shelton has a different view. The former Republican senator and current secretary of defense has a different view. ... We have the best-trained, best-equipped military in the world.''
Cutbacks in military spending did not begin under Clinton but in 1986 under President Reagan, a Republican, as the Cold War drew to a close. Under President Bush, military spending steadily declined from $292 billion annually in fiscal 1989 to $265 billion by fiscal 1991.
Bush's criticism is part of a post-convention retooling of his stump speech to sharpen the focus on education, tax cuts, religious-based welfare programs, Medicare and Social Security reform, and military readiness.
Meanwhile, two polls showed Gore ahead for the first time in months after last week's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.
An ABC News-Washington Post poll released yesterday showed Gore leading Bush 50 percent to 45 percent. The margin of error was 3.5 percent. A CBS News poll showed that Gore had picked up 10 points to essentially tie the race, 43-42 percent, in a four-way race including Green Party candidate Ralph Nader at 5 percent and Reform Party candidate Patrick J. Buchanan at 1 percent. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released Sunday had Gore at 47 percent and Bush at 46 percent.
While Bush's staff has boasted in the past several months about the durability of his lead over Gore, Bush played down the latest surveys.
''Polls will be up and down and that,'' he told reporters on his campaign plane. ''I like my chances, but I know I have a lot of work to do. It's going to be a close race.''
Republican pollster Frank Luntz cautioned that Gore's rise may be a temporary blip, because Gore's convention speech ''exceeded expectations.''
''There is so much fluidity ... because there is no intensity,'' Luntz said about the polls. ''You can see the public switch from week to week because they don't feel strongly.''
Gore is an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, and Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard. Even during the Republican primaries against Senator John S. McCain of Arizona, a decorated Navy veteran and former Vietnam prisoner of war, Bush complained about a loss of morale in the armed forces.
The criticism played particularly well in South Carolina, home to a large concentration of military bases and military retirees. It was there that Bush rebounded from his New Hampshire primary loss to McCain.
Yesterday, Bush was greeted at the VFW meeting by a lone protester dressed as Jesus. He held a cross inscribed with ''WWJD,'' short for ''What would Jesus do?'' Written on the horizontal arm of the cross was: ''Vote Democrat.''
In citing his concerns to the veterans, Bush said: ''I don't care what's said in a political campaign. These are signs of a military in decline and we must do something about it.''
Earlier this month, President Clinton signed into law a bill providing $75.8 billion in military pay increases. Bush has already said he would add another $1 billion annually.
His $310 million school-repair proposal was similar to one he made last week. In New Mexico, Bush proposed spending $802 million to repair schools on Indian reservations and another $126 million to replace the six worst schools.
While the federal government controls less than 7 percent of all school spending, Bush aides said the governor's proposals addressed the two areas directly under federal control, schools for military dependents and Indians.
After his two-hour stop in Wisconsin, the governor flew to Iowa to visit the Downtown School, a charter school started in 1993 by parents who worked downtown and sought to be close to their children. It has an enrollment of 160 pupils and a waiting list of over 500.
He also attended two fund-raisers for the Iowa Republican Party, one for donors who contributed a total of $350,000 and another expected to raise $210,000.
Today, Bush will travel to Peoria, Ill., for a school visit before flying to St. Louis to stop at another school and attend three private fund-raisers on behalf of the state and national Republican parties, as well as for Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri.
Bush is planning to take tomorrow off and has a three-day weekend scheduled, but he bristled when asked if he is keeping a leisurely campaign pace.
''I thought we've had a pretty active schedule and are continuing to have an active schedule. I like the pace that I'm on,'' he told reporters.
Globe Staff writer Susan Milligan, traveling with Gore in Missouri, contributed to this report.
