Cincinnati ? Democrat John Kerry said Tuesday there was no compassionate conservatism in the Bush administration’s economic policies, which prompted the president to respond that the economy was strong and growing. “I guess if you want to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it,” President Bush said.

“I’m optimistic,” Bush said during a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the White House Rose Garden. He described the economy as strong and continuing to improve. “I have seen what we have come through. We’ve been through a recession, a national emergency, corporate scandals, a war, and yet our economy is incredibly strong.”

Bush has some statistics on his side — 1.2 million jobs have been created this year, and he also noted that consumer spending and after-tax disposable income was higher. But Kerry is armed with numbers that paint a more sobering picture — 1.2 million more people unemployed than when Bush took office in January 2001, with tuition, insurance and gasoline costs rising .

In a speech to the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, Kerry criticized the Bush administration for preparing to cut budgets for education, domestic security, veterans and other programs after the election, citing White House planning documents.

“If you think that is compassionate conservatism, then Dick Cheney is Mr. Rogers,” Kerry said.

Bush’s re-election campaign is calling Kerry’s two weeks of travel a “pessimism and misery tour,” and the president echoed that criticism during his Rose Garden news conference.

“You know, I am an optimistic person,” Bush said. “I guess if you want to try to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know?”

Kerry, speaking to reporters before a fund-raiser in Cincinnati, said Bush’s comment “has no relationship to reality.”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., greets the audience during an introduction before speaking at a fund-raiser in Cincinnati. Kerry, pictured Tuesday, is touting his economic plans for the next two weeks.