ES MOINES - George W. Bush is fond of saying, ''There's something in the air here,'' as he campaigns from state to state and expresses optimism about his electoral chances.
When it comes to Iowa, though, there may be something in the water.
For the second time this year, the Republican presidential candidate came to this Midwest state and gave a stump speech that mystified his listeners, as he mangled some of his phrases.
Addressing 2,100 people at a fund-raiser for the Iowa Republican Party on Monday, the Texas governor boasted, ''We're talking about issues in a way that the American people can understand.''
His speech put that declaration to the test.
In speaking about the federal budget surplus and tax cuts, Bush said: ''My attitude about the surplus is this: It doesn't exist because of the ingenuity and hard work of government; the surplus exists because of the ingenuity and hard work of the American people. Between now and the next 10 years, our budget's going to grow from roughly $1.9 billion to an additional spending, of $1.9 trillion, to an additional spending of $3.3 trillion. That's before we even account for the surplus. We will spend $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years on top of $1.9 trillion. We've still got trillions left in the surplus, and surely we can send some of that money back to the people who will pay the bills, surely, surely, we can share the hard work with the American people.''
Bush also took a populist approach, saying his 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut proposal would benefit not just the wealthy, as Democrats have said, but poorer workers trying to get into the middle class.
''This campaign not only hears the voices of the entrepreneurs and the farmers and the entrepreneurs, we hear the voices of those struggling to get ahead,'' he said, his double reference to entrepreneurs drawing some chuckles.
Addressing the issue of military readiness, Bush pledged to rebuild the armed forces to prevent an outbreak of war, rejecting suggestions that America ignore most international problems.
''I will refuse to let this nation withdraw within our borders. We're not an isolationist nation. We're a nation based on the principle of freedom, and we cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile,'' he said.
The speech harked back to Jan. 21, when at the end of a long day of campaigning, Bush tied some verbal knots as he spoke in Council Bluffs about international threats.
Saying the end of the Cold War had blurred the lines between hostile and friendly nations, Bush declared: ''When I was young and coming up, it was a dangerous world, and we knew exactly who the `they' were. It was `us' versus `them' and it was clear who the `them' was. Today, we're not so sure who the `they' are, but we know they're there.''
