By Gregory Korte
Enquirer staff writer

LIMA - An energetic President Bush played to enthusiastic Republican crowds in a three-city bus trip through western Ohio Saturday, promising that another four years will give him the chance to boost the state's sagging economy.

"Listen, I understand Ohio," he said at an "Ask President Bush" event at Lima High School. "I've been here a lot and I will come back a lot. This economy of ours has recovered from recession, corporate scandal and attacks. And yet there are parts of your state that are lagging behind the national economy. Which means you better have somebody in office who has a plan to continue economic growth."

Bush said making his 2002 tax cut permanent would spur investment, particularly among small businesses.

The message was similar to one he delivered last month in John Glenn country, in east-central Ohio, where he spoke of his administration's support for the coal and steel industries.

Saturday, in Neil Armstrong country, the emphasis was more on small business and agriculture.

"Can you imagine, someday - and I believe it's going to happen - someday a president is going to walk in and the ag-type adviser is going to say, 'Hey, Mr. President, the corn crop is up, and now we're less dependent on foreign sources of energy.' That's what I'm telling you," Bush said.

Sweating through his shirt in a speech on Troy's public square, he said small businesses would benefit from his tax cuts, reform of "junk lawsuits" and a system to let small businesses pool together to buy health insurance.

Looking casual and more relaxed in the air-conditioned comfort of a brand new high school on the east side of Lima, Bush expanded on those themes for nearly 90 minutes. "I'm just getting cranked up," he said at one point.

Though it was billed as an "Ask President Bush" event, it was Bush who asked most of the questions. Bush interviewed the presidents of two fast-growing Lima companies - one makes kitchen range accessories, the other is the world's largest producer of pork rinds - and a youth pastor from Defiance and a physical therapist from Bryan. The four pre-selected participants said they benefited from Bush's tax cuts.

Bush made no apologies for the format of the town hall meeting.

"It's a way of explaining why we have done the things we've done and what we intend to do to make sure this country is a strong country."

But Democrats were critical of the softball questions and scripted events.

Allen County Democratic Party Chairman Gary Frueh said Range Kleen Manufacturing and Rudolph Foods were two of the few bright spots in an economy that's second only to Youngstown in the number of job losses.

"While those two businesses are doing fairly well, both are affiliated in some way with Wal-Mart. They're not the best examples," Frueh said. "We were one of the largest defense manufacturing areas in the country, and that is gone."

But Frueh admitted it will be difficult for Democrats to compete in this part of the state without visits from either Sen. John Kerry or his running mate. The last Democratic presidential candidate to visit Lima was Harry Truman, while few Republicans have passed it up.

Bush also stopped at a Sidney restaurant for pie between speeches and campaigned in Perrysburg, outside Toledo, Saturday night. He'll be back in Columbus Wednesday before accepting the Republican nomination in New York City Thursday. And Saturday, it's another Ohio bus tour - this time to Cleveland and its eastern suburbs. A presidential visit to a small town is big news, and Saturday's local-newspaper coverage of Bush's visit reflected the region's Republican roots. And it illustrates why the campaigns think they can sometimes get more bang for their buck visiting rural areas.

Coverage in the Troy Daily News included an eight-page special section with profiles of Bush, the first lady and the vice president, alongside ads from local businesses supporting the GOP ticket.

The headline in the Lima News read, "Welcome, Mr. President."

"He's entering a Republican stronghold, but also an area that is home to many displaced workers and a struggling economy," observed the Lima paper in a front-page editorial.

Democrats mocked the bus trip as a "bust trip," organizing protests at each event where Bush opponents held up local unemployment numbers.

But the protests were small and mostly quiet, especially in the vast farmlands of west-central Ohio. In Troy, uniformed Secret Service agents and a phalanx of Miami County sheriff's deputies dressed in full riot gear held off three-dozen union activists and anti-war protesters who were neatly corralled into a protest area three blocks from the square. The event itself was by ticket only.

Closer to Toledo, the protests along the route picked up again. "Worst president ever," read one sign.

Except for some lines from his standard stump speech, Bush didn't confront his opponent head on. For example, he criticized "my opponents" for voting against an $87 billion appropriation in Iraq.

"He said, 'Well, I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it,' " Bush said. "That's not the way they talk here in this part of Ohio." The crowd roared.

Conservative social values are important in this part of the state, and Bush reprised many of his "compassionate conservative" themes from his 2000 campaign. One woman in the crowd yelled out in Lima, "God bless you, Mr. President!"

When the crowd finally got the chance to ask questions, the three questions Bush did get were thinly veiled statements of support. One man, standing in the visitor's bleachers under a sign reading "Bush Country - Lima, Ohio," thanked Bush on behalf of the anti-abortion movement and defended Bush from critics of his Texas National Guard Service.

"And, Mr. President, what military branch did Mr. Clinton serve in?" he asked.

Bush didn't take the bait to attack Kerry's service in Vietnam. "I appreciate your strong defense. I'm proud of my service," Bush replied. "The question is who's best to be the commander-in-chief to lead us to peace. That's the question."

The next questioner said he's one of 44,000 people organized into a prayer circle to pray for the president, and thanked the president for his stance on moral issues. And the last question, from a young boy, asked what the president's favorite book was.

"Well, the Bible," said Bush, who also recommended a biography of Alexander Hamilton that he admitted might be a little beyond the boy's reading level.

But Bush ended on a note that tried to balance his Christian conservatism with a tolerance of secularism.

"You can worship any way you see fit. If you choose not to worship, and worship, you're equally American," he said. "That's a shared value of a truly free society, isn't it?"

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E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com