ASHINGTON - In the weeks since George W. Bush won the bitter Republican primary race against Senator John McCain, he has been revamping his campaign, mellowing its tone, and moving to the middle, gathering many positive reviews and slowly climbing in the polls against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore.
So yesterday, when the Bush road show came here to the political equivalent of Broadway, the choreography at several stops along Pennsylvania Avenue was complete, with every move made by the Texas governor designed to address what some see as shortcomings in his campaign.
No foreign policy experience? Bush hoped to erase that perception by meeting for an hour with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of Russia, chastising him in private for the war in Chechnya, Bush aides said. Bush also said he wants to build a missile defense system opposed by Moscow. While Gore has far more foreign policy experience - and unlike Bush has been to Russia numerous times - Bush hoped to send a message that he could be firm with foreign leaders.
No working relationship with Democrats in Washington? Bush met with Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, a Democrat, and Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, to discuss the governor's views on Social Security reform. Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes later reiterated that the governor wants to allow taxpayers to divert part of their Social Security payments to a fund that can be invested in the stock market.
It didn't matter to the Bush campaign that Kerrey, who once backed Democratic candidate Bill Bradley, has endorsed Gore and will have retired from the Senate when the next president takes office. Bush was impressed by Kerrey's ''thoughtful approach,'' Hughes said.
Pressed on whether Bush intends to outline a detailed Social Security plan, Hughes said, ''He will endorse the concept'' of reform ''without the specific numbers.'' Pressed further, Hughes said Bush likes the concept of what has become known as the Kerrey ''2 percent plan.''
Under that plan, the 12.4 percent Social Security tax would be lowered to 10.4 percent, with the remaining two percentage points worth of payments going to retirement accounts that could be invested in the stock market. The plan's backers say this could boost the Social Security savings of a person born this year by $1 million.
''Diverting money away from the Social Security trust fund is irresponsible,'' Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway said. ''Even the most modest proposal on Capitol Hill, which is 2 percent, would bankrupt the trust fund by 2023 when the senior population is expected to double over the next two decades.''
But Kerrey said it was irresponsible for Gore to refuse to back his plan, saying it would save Social Security, not bankrupt it. Kerrey, defending his meeting with Bush, said he wasn't trying to help the Republican candidate but was happy to educate him.
''Bush said, `I like the general outline of what you are doing,''' Kerrey said. ''He said he didn't understand that given all that it does for lower-income people, why don't Democrats embrace it?''
Bush's meeting with Kerrey fit into a day designed to show Bush as presidential and bipartisan. After months of saying he wanted voters to ''kick the tires'' of his campaign, he came to Washington for the first time since clinching the Republican nomination and kicked the tires of the town. He liked what he felt.
''I am an incredibly optimistic person. I feel positive about your future - and mine,'' he told the Republican Women Leaders Forum at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.
The Bush campaign, which for weeks has chided Gore's inaccessibility to the media, mostly kept its candidate at a distance yesterday despite the greatly increased press corps that followed him around the nation's capital.
Bush, for example, met for nearly an hour with several hundred people at the Reagan center in a scripted show designed to highlight Bush's early-reading initiatives. The program featured Bush and his guests seated on couches in an ''Oprah''-style format and was frequently interrupted by Bush television commercials broadcast on a large screen.
At one point, Bush was interviewed by a nervous elementary school student about the success of the governor's reading programs in Texas. Later, two junior high students who participate in an independently sponsored program called ''Best Friends'' told Bush they have agreed to abstain from sex until at least their graduation from high school. Bush applauded.
A day after angrily declaring that Gore ''is willing to stretch the truth and exaggerate in order to get ahead,'' Bush sought to present himself as a model of positive campaigning. ''I will set a different tone. I will restore civility and respect to our national politics,'' Bush said in remarks prepared for a GOP fund-raiser last night.
The black-tie gala by the Republican National Committee was expected to raise a one-night record of $18 million. But moments later in the text, Bush seemed to go negative: ''For Al Gore's campaign, every day is scorched-earth day.''
In a potential embarrassment for Bush, Doris Haddock of Dublin, N.H., the ''Granny D'' who walked across the country to promote campaign finance reform, was escorted out of the RNC gala last night after she declined to pay the $1,500 minimum contribution.
A spokesman for Haddock, John Anthony, said she tried to attend the fund-raiser because the Bush campaign had ridiculed the Gore campaign for kicking her out of one of their events. Anthony said the Bush staff knew who Haddock was but would not allow her to stay because she did not have a ticket.
