Bush travels to enemy territory

The tightest election in years. Polls have consistently put Bush on top, but the numbers are still within the margin of error. 153 undecided electoral votes. \nRepublican Presidential candidate Gov. George Bush has six days to get those final votes in and come out on top. Bush will be traveling through many states, and running campaign commercials on major networks.\n"In this phase you have to focus on state races," said political science professor Russell Hanson.\nBush will be visiting many traditionally democratic states, such as California and Minnesota. Although some political strategists many find it odd to visit enemy territory this close to the election, Bush supporters think it is an intelligent method of getting out the vote.\n"(Bush) is going to states that should have been locked up by Gore long ago," said Bob Hopkins, a campaign spokesperson for the Bush-Cheney campaign.\nAnne Scuffham, president of IU College Republicans, thinks Bush is not wasting time by visiting these states.\nHe is confident in the people's confidence in him," Scuffham said.\nVisits to the swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Florida have been and will continue to be focus areas over the next few days. Bush went on a bus tour last week through Pennsylvania and Michigan.\n"At this stage he is reaching out to every voter," Hopkins said, "traditional democratic states have become swing states because his message has resonated there." But Bush will not ignore those traditional battleground states, Hopkins said.\nHanson said that he does not think either candidate would be spending time in states where they didn't think they have a chance of winning.\nRepublicans have also been throwing support to Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in order to draw some Gore supporters away. Because of the unlikely circumstance of a Green Party victory, if the Bush campaign in able to steer democratic voters towards a third party candidate, they will in turn decrease Gore's voter base without hurting their own. In other words, Gore's percentage of the vote will decrease, Nader's will increase by a small margin, and Bush will be unharmed.\nHanson said Bush might also focus on getting the Hispanic vote, which has been a theme throughout the campaign. There are high populations of hispanics in three of the largest swing states, he said.\nBesides the continuous state visits, Bush will be doing over the next few days, voters -- particularly those in the swing states-- will be privy to numerous campaign commercials, phone calls, and campaign mailings.\nHanson said candidates are probably looking to capture whatever free media they can before election day.\n"We have an extensive grass roots program nationwide," Hopkinds said, "you have to make sure you are energizing (the voters)."\nIU College Republicans will be participating in the get-out-the-vote effort for Bush. Scuffham said they are trying to rent vans to transport voters, and putting up signs and posters to let people know where their polling places are.\n"Bush would have to make a major snaffu for him to get behind now," Scuffham said.