CRAWFORD, Texas, Aug 24 (AFP) - President George W. Bush plans to visit eight of the most hotly contested states in his campaign for reelection, before his September 2 appearance at the Republican convention in New York, campaign officials said Tuesday.
Bush has been on vacation since Thursday at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. In New York, he is to be formally tapped as the Republican candidate to face Democratic candidate John Kerry. The two are running neck-and-neck in voter preference polls.
On Thursday, Bush heads to New Mexico, one of the US states Democrat Al Gore won in 2000 by a narrow margin.
Bush will join fellow Republican Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York who saw the city through the September 11, 2001 attacks.
On Friday, Bush will travel to Florida, which was decisive in the 2000 elections. On Saturday he will be in Ohio and on Sunday in West Virginia.
On August 30, Bush will visit New Hampshire and Michigan. On August 31 he will go to Tennessee and on September 1, he will arrive in New York after a stopover in Ohio.
Campaign officials have not given Bush's itinerary for the days following his speech to Republican delegates. At the convention, Bush is expected to present his plans for a second, four-year term should he be reelected.
Democratic Senator Zell Miller has rallied to Bush's side as well as Senator John McCain, a Republican who was Bush's rival for their party's candidacy in the 2000 race. Both will accompany Bush on stops along the campaign trail.