OYAL OAK, Mich. - As their running mates convened in Kentucky, George W. Bush and Al Gore sparred from opposite ends of Michigan, aiming their increasingly honed campaigns at slivers of undecided voters in this battleground state.
Bush held two intimate meetings with constituents in the eastern part of the state, the first with Arab-American leaders, the second at a public school in suburban Detroit, where he rolled out proposals that would encourage working families to spend more time at home.
Gore, meanwhile, spoke at a thundering rally in Grand Rapids, a Republican stronghold in the west that is home to former president Gerald Ford. The 10,000 people in the crowd were warmed up with a performance by singer Glenn Frey, a member of the Eagles rock band and a Detroit native.
''This is Michigan beach weather,'' Frey said to laughter, as the crowd huddled under gray skies and a 45-degree temperature.
The two candidates are seeking the significant chunk of electoral votes - 18 - that Michigan represents. Bush, who lost the state to Senator John S. McCain during the Republican primaries, is so convinced he must win Michigan he is planning to have McCain campaign here for him this month, said Republican Governor John Engler.
In seeking votes yesterday, Bush put a family-oriented twist on a familiar theme, casting his $1.3 trillion, 10-year tax-cut proposal as part of a grander concept of providing greater flexibility to employees. He added several points to his agenda: letting employees receive compensation time instead of overtime pay; making employer-purchased home computers tax deductible; forbidding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from monitoring home offices; and encouraging television networks to return to an evening ''family hour.''
The overtime proposal, sometimes called ''flex-time'' by the Clinton administration, has been criticized by some Democrats who fear employers would force employees to take time off instead of overtime pay. Josh Bolten, a senior Bush policy aide, said the proposal would forbid such pressuring, but he did not elaborate on how the law would work.
The House has passed legislation similar to Bush's proposal twice, and Clinton has supported a narrower version. Unions are largely opposed to any measure.
Later, at an appearance in Wisconsin, he sounded a more conservative note, suggesting it is the president's job to help parents guard their children from violence in the media. ''I think government needs to stand side by side with parents,'' Bush said. ''Parents all across America are teaching their children right from wrong, but we parents, we know what you're battling - you're battling a culture sometimes.''
Across the state, meanwhile, the vice president continued to take aim at the Bush tax cut. Rather than help families, Gore said, spending the federal budget surplus in that manner would take away money that could be spent on other priorities, such as rebuilding schools and tax cuts for college tuition, child care, or retirement savings.
''If we squander the surplus on tax cuts - nearly 30 percent of which would go to people with incomes of more than $1 million per year - then the resources would not be there for the priorities that are crucial for the future of these children,'' Gore said.
Kornblut reported from Eastern Michigan and Wisconsin, Johnson from Grand Rapids.
