USTIN, Texas - This week, Governor George W. Bush of Texas and his surrogates will have three tough nuts to crack: women, younger people, and New Hampshire voters. And come Sunday, 29 Republican governors will converge on Austin to launch an assault on battleground states, to draw those other tough nuts into the governor's column on Nov. 7.
Though women have been mighty resistant to Bush's charms in the past, they seem to have warmed to him lately, according to recent polls. Bush, who trailed Vice President Al Gore among women by 26 points in early October, has pulled within two points among women in the most recent Gallup poll. A Zogby poll for the same period shows Gore to be 10 percentage points ahead among women voters.
To cement that gain, Bush is sending his mother, Barbara Bush, his wife, Laura Bush, and Lynne Cheney, wife of his running mate Dick Cheney, out on a three-day trip to the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. For part of the trip, they'll be joined by Condoleeza Rice, Bush's foreign policy adviser, and Cindy McCain, wife of Arizona Senator John McCain, whom Bush defeated to win the Republican nomination.
The women will tout Bush's commitment to education and health care.
''We go into this knowing this is obviously an important voting group,'' said spokeswoman Mindy Tucker, ''and we are not going to cede any of these votes to the Democrats.''
One thing the women are unlikely to dwell on during their trip is the governor's antiabortion position. Gore has taken every possible opportunity to use the abortion issue as a wedge between women and Bush, arguing that abortion rights would be at risk if Bush were elected president.
For his part, Bush redirected questions about his antiabortion position to focus on his commitment to issues of common interest among abortion-rights advocates and antiabortion supporters: reducing the number of abortions, and making adoptions easier.
''At this point we can't see that on either side [Bush's antiabortion stance] has had an impact either way,'' said Tucker, in a conference call. ''The best thing [Bush] has done has been to state his position clearly. He's not changed his positions like Vice President Gore has and I think people on both sides of the issue appreciate that.''
Younger voters, whose participation in elections has been steadily declining since 1972, have posed huge challenges for both candidates. And much of the to-and-fro between the candidates has focused on issues many say are less than relevant to them: Social Security, prescription drug benefits for Medicare, and the like.
Later his week, the campaign will be focusing on the group it has dubbed ''America's Rising Generation,'' and press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush's stances on the issues would appeal to younger voters. He said the governor would focus on education, and on allowing younger workers to invest part of their social security funds.
''The notion of allowing them to keep some of their money under their control is a very powerful and defining difference between Vice President Gore and Governor Bush,'' he said.
At the end of the week, Bush will return to New Hampshire, with McCain, the man who defeated him in the state's first-in-the-nation primary. The Granite state voted for President Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but supported Republicans in the three elections before that.
McCain is still beloved there. At the Republican National Convention, some of the state delegation resisted his urging to cast their votes for Bush. Fleischer said the senator would play ''an important role'' in the campaign before Election Day, campaigning with Cheney and joining Bush at other campaign appearances.
''Senator McCain has particular appeal among independent voters,'' Fleischer said. ''Everywhere he goes, he will be helpful.''
The campaign is hoping an army of Republican governors will be just as helpful next week. The 29 governors, many of whom lead battleground states, will be divided into four groups and dispatched to the four corners of the country from Oct. 23-25. They will fly on private planes provided by the campaign. In 24 states, they will praise Bush and try to bury Gore, arguing that the current White House has stymied their attempts at bipartisan reforms.
Bush begins his week today in Little Rock, Ark., the president's hometown, before heading to St. Louis for tomorrow night's third and final debate with the vice president. On Thursday, he will appear on The Late Show with David Letterman, where his last appearance, via satellite, was less than successful.
Fleischer betrayed no trepidation about Bush's return, and he deflected questions on whether Bush had been preparing jokes for the show.
''We like to think he's a very funny man on his own,'' he said.
