Bush touts leadership, economic policies

? President Bush, armed with an aggressive new campaign speech, argued Thursday that America should keep him as president during two campaign appearances.

Bush attended a luncheon that raised $1.2 million for his re-election campaign — only to be greeted by about 100 protesters waving signs lettered with a single word: “Jobs.”

Bush took on his detractors. Speaking before 1,000 GOP contributors who paid $2,000 each to hear him defend his record, the president said voters would have a “very clear choice” this November between his approach to governing and that of the Democrats’ candidate.

Democratic leadership, he said, would bring higher taxes and oppose “every idea that gives Americans more authority and more choices and more control over our own lives.”

Bush added that a Democratic leader would create a nation “uncertain in the face of danger,” and be less than aggressive in battling global terrorism.