Bush upbeat on job growth, fighting terror

President Bush addresses the crowd at Union Pier in Charleston. Staff/OWEN RILEY JR. e-mail this story Related Photo gallery • The president talks security in Charleston

In his seventh trip to South Carolina as president, Bush offered an upbeat assessment on an improving economy and a war on terror in which he said the United States has the upper hand.

The White House billed the speech as port security-related and considered it to be official business, paid for by the taxpayers. No political functions were held while he was in the state.

Democrats have battered him on trade and a "jobless recovery," but on Thursday Bush stood on a dock at one of the nation's most thriving ports to proclaim, "We're rising to meet the great challenges.

"There's a positive work environment so people can find jobs, our economy is growing" and productivity is up, Bush said, citing low interest rates, record home ownership levels, new home construction at a 25-year high, low inflation and high productivity.

"The tax relief we passed has made a difference," he said.

South Carolina still faces economic challenges, he said.

"Even though the unemployment rate is down, it's still too high. Many factory workers in textile and apparel have faced layoffs. But there are new jobs being created, and the challenge at all levels of government is to make sure that people are trained for jobs which actually exist."

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has been the other major focus of Democrats, who have challenged Bush's justification for the war and questioned the administration's reconstruction policy.

Without responding directly, Bush said, "The best way to protect America is to stay on the offensive. When America speaks, we better mean what we say.

"Knowing what I knew then and what I know today, America did the right thing in Iraq," he said.

After months of hammering from Democratic candidates stumping the state, Bush was "resetting the agenda," said Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop University political scientist. "This was a reminder that South Carolina is Bush country, a way of keeping his message in the forefront" now that the Democrats have moved on, Huffmon said.

Under a forbidding gray sky, a biting wind blew in across the harbor from the northeast, chilling the crowd of approximately 2,000. Seagulls and pelicans circled aloft, buffeted by the wind.

Bleachers flanking the presidential platform were filled with military personnel and their families; others were conspicuous among the larger number of civilians for whom there were no seats.

Cargo containers were stacked two and three high as a security precaution. Just before Bush mounted the platform, a Coast Guard cutter moved into position just offshore as a floating security shield.

Across the water at Patriots Point, the decommissioned aircraft carrier Yorktown, where Democratic frontrunner John Kerry made his formal declaration of candidacy last summer, could be seen.

While Bush spoke of productivity and jobs on the rise, of "things looking good across the country," arriving and departing guests could see a real-life amplification of his remarks: Hundreds of BMW's, Z-4s and X-5s assembled in Greer for export, 5 and 7 Series sedans shipped in from Germany.

Demetria Weaver, 25, a Ports Authority employee, said, "It's good that he's here, it's good for the port. I just wanted to see the president."

She said she didn't vote for him in 2000.

Miles Smith, a 20-year-old College of Charleston student from North Carolina, said he liked hearing Bush's reminder that Saddam Hussein is in captivity and terror mastermind Osama bin Laden is next.

Bush's positive message on jobs and the economy was welcome, Smith said, after a steady barrage of criticism from Democratic presidential candidates.

Nancy Shipman, 30, brought her four children and came away pleased with "aggressive" warnings to terrorists.

An effusive Judy Dyches had a more exuberant reaction: "I love him; he did a great job."

Bush's motorcade took a slight detour before heading back to the airport.

The presidential limousine and Secret Service "war wagons," also known as Chevy Suburbans, pulled up at Sticky Fingers, a Meeting Street eatery and one of small chain owned by Chad Waldorf. Waldorf is Gov. Mark Sanford's deputy chief of staff.

"We didn't drop in just to say hello. We dropped in to get some food," Bush told the mostly lunchtime tourist crowd, according to the press pool report.

Bush and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who accompanied him from Washington, were inside for several minutes, according to the report.

Sanford and South Carolina House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, chairman of his state re-election campaign, greeted Bush at Charleston Air Force Base.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge also traveled with the president.

Ridge declared the nation "better prepared than ever before."

Bush briefly touched on the issue, one that Kerry addressed in a December speech in Portsmouth, N.H., before he emerged as the Democratic front-runner and likely nominee. At the time, Kerry said the administration was guilty of "delaying and procrastinating while the homeland security clock is ticking."

Bush ticked off a list of port security programs he said he has installed, including increased scrutiny of cargo manifests, checking containers overseas before they're shipped to the U.S., and more money for a variety of efforts, from new ships for the Coast Guard to the more mundane aspects of patrolling harbors and cargo sheds.

His proposed budget calls for a 13 percent increase, to $1.9 billion, for port and cargo security and 9 percent, or $500 million, more for the Coast Guard.

But much of his message was devoted to Iraq and terrorism.

A pledge to "fight and win the wars against terror" triggered shouts of "hoo aaah," the 21st century military's war cry, from uniformed men and women.

But Bush warned against "false confidence" because there have been no terror strikes on U.S. soil since 9/11, because "the terrorists are still plotting."

Although chief weapons inspector David Kay has questioned the intelligence data that Bush used in making the decision to go into Iraq, the president said Thursday, that while no weapons of mass destruction have been found, Iraq had the technology and infrastructure to produce them.

"Saddam had the intent to arm his regime with weapons of mass destruction and a record of using them," Bush said.

"I will not stand by while danger gathers; I will protect and defend this country by taking the fight to the enemy," he said. "That's the only way I know how to lead."