Bush barnstorms Florida Saturday
 |  President Bush is introduced by his brother Gov. Jeb Bush at a campaign rally Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida. |
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Fort Myers, Florida (CNN) -- President Bush began a barnstorming run of the Sunshine State on Saturday, the 32nd time he has visited the decisive site of the 2000 election.
Bush spoke at a rally in Fort Myers and was expected at three other events Saturday on both of the state's coasts: Lakeland on the west and Melbourne and Jacksonville on the east, both regions hit by recent hurricanes.
Bush told supporters that when it comes to Iraq, Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry is suffering from "election amnesia."
The president noted Kerry's prewar statements that Saddam Hussein was a threat, and Kerry's vote to authorize the use of force.
But now, Bush said, Kerry has called Iraq " the wrong war at the wrong time."
The event was held at a baseball field that American League champions the Boston Red Sox use during spring training, according to The Associated Press.
Polls continue to show Bush and Kerry very close in a state that is rich with 27 electoral votes. (Showdown state Florida) (CNN.com's Poll Tracker)
Kerry also is expected to travel to Florida late Saturday after stumping in Western battleground states.
On Friday, at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Bush said the election "comes down to five clear choices for the American families, five choices on issues of great consequence: your family's security, your budget, your quality of life, your retirement and the bedrock vales that are so critical to our families and our future." (Showdown state Pennsylvania)
The Bush campaign also released a new salvo over the airwaves on Friday, a television ad called "Wolves," which shows wolves roaming through the woods.
The ad accuses Kerry "and the liberals in Congress" of voting to cut America's intelligence operations after "the first terrorist attack on America," a reference to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
"Weakness attracts those who are waiting to do America harm," the ad says.
The Kerry campaign struck back, calling Bush "desperate."
"These are desperate days for the Bush campaign with the president's job approval in the danger zone," Kerry campaign spokesman Chad Clanton said in a written statement, referring to Bush's ratings below 50 percent.
"They are desperately using the politics of fear to try and distract from President Bush's failed record on the economy and Iraq. ... This only reminds people that it's time for a fresh start and a new direction in America."
Also appearing in the Keystone State on Thursday, Bush told Pennsylvania supporters that he would work to reduce the cost of health care if elected to a second term.
He also attacked Kerry's health care proposals, saying they "always involve bigger and more intrusive government."
"If you think about it, on issue after issue after issue, my opponent wants the government to dictate to the American people," Bush said.
"I want the American people to decide. He trusts government; I trust the people." (Special Report: America Votes 2004, The Issues)
Kerry's campaign responded by noting that several major newspapers have called Bush's description of the Democrat's plan as a "government-run" program an exaggeration, or even "fiction," as the Washington Post put it.
With 21 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is one of the major battlegrounds in this year's election. Bush lost the state to Democrat Al Gore, then the vice president, in 2000 by a margin of 5 percentage points, but recent polls show the Bush-Kerry race practically even.
The stop in Downington was one of three Bush made Thursday in Pennsylvania. He met with Philadelphia's archbishop, Cardinal Justin Rigali, and held a late afternoon rally in Hershey.
Bush said he kept his word to cut taxes and extend Medicare benefits by adding a prescription drug plan, and he repeated his pledge to push for limits on damage awards in lawsuits, which Bush blames for driving up the cost of health care and driving doctors out of their practices.
"We want our doctors focused on fighting illness, not on having to fight lawsuits," he said,
Industry groups say Pennsylvania has among the highest medical malpractice insurance rates in the country, and they argue that those rates are pushing doctors out of business.
Kerry has proposed extending health care by expanding tax credits for small businesses to encourage them to provide health insurance, allowing older workers to buy into Medicare and expanding the Medicaid program to cover more children.
He says he would pay for the program by rolling back Bush's tax cuts for the country's wealthiest taxpayers, but the president said Kerry would still need to find up to $600 billion to pay for his program.
"There is a gap between what he promises and how he says he's going to pay for it. And guess who usually fills the gap? You do," Bush said.
And he said raising taxes on the rich would be futile, since they would just find a way to avoid paying them.
CNN's Dana Bash contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
