Bush Visits Louisiana, With Democrats Ready (NY Times 22 May)

"People in Louisiana have the same kitchen-table concern as people in other parts of the country,'' Mr. Singer said. "And they know George Bush has not delivered.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/22/politics/campaign/22bush.html

BATON ROUGE, La., May 21 - President Bush paid a visit Friday to Louisiana, which has been a political stronghold of his but where Democrats are moving aggressively to put him on the defensive with a torrent of campaign advertisements.
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Mr. Bush delivered his (LSU commencement) address, of roughly 17 minutes, in a packed arena before traveling to a suburb of New Orleans to speak to Republican donors at the home of a supporter, Edward Ludwig III, a builder. The donors paid $2,000 a person to attend a stand-up reception, or $25,000 a couple for a sit-down luncheon, at Mr. Ludwig's home, a stucco house in the style of a small French chateau. Bush aides said the events together brought in about $2 million.

Until now, Mr. Bush and his advisers have not seemed very concerned about Louisiana, where he defeated Al Gore by 7.9 percentage points in the 2000 presidential election and where polls show him with a comfortable lead over Senator John Kerry.

But in a measure of how tight and volatile the presidential election campaign has become, Democrats now believe they have a shot at winning the state, whose unemployment rate during the Bush administration they describe as dismal. Louisiana's jobless rate in April was 5.9 percent, higher than the national average, of 5.6, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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President Bush preparing to leave the Baton Rouge airport Friday after delivering the commencement address at Louisiana State.