Bush challenges Democrats to offer plan for Iraq

LE MARS, Iowa, Nov 4 (Reuters) President George W Bush challenged Democrats to offer their plan for winning in Iraq as he swept across Republican strongholds in the US heartland trying to help his party's candidates survive on Election Day.

Bush's strategy in the campaign's final weekend is to attempt to turn the tables on Democrats who have cast Tuesday's elections as a referendum on his handling of the Iraq war, in which another five American troops were reported killed yesterday.

At two rallies in Missouri and a third in Iowa, Bush cajoled thousands of Republican faithful to join in demanding of Democrats, ''What's your plan?'' for winning in Iraq and dealing with a host of other national security issues.

''What's your plan?'' the audience yelled back.

''See, they don't have a plan,'' Bush said. ''Harsh criticism is not a plan for victory. Second guessing is not a strategy.'' Facing American doubts about pursuing the 3-1/2-year-old war amid unrelenting violence that plays out on their television screen, Bush is making a strong defense of the conflict a central theme in his final pre-election blitz in 10 states.

Reflective of the difficult political landscape for Republicans, he is traveling in states he won in 2004: Montana, Nevada, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, Florida and Texas.

His strategy is to appear in Republican strongholds, try to encourage as big a turnout as possible among the party's base supporters and hope that concern about Iraq and various Republican scandals do not depress the number of loyalists who turn out.

The plan worked in Iowa in his re-election campaign in 2004, where late visits to northwestern Iowa helped him to a slender 10,000-vote victory in the state.

In Iowa, he was trying to help Republican Representative Jim Nussle in his race for governor against Democrat Chet Culver, who holds a slight lead in the polls.

'IMPEACH' BANNER In Missouri, Bush used rallies in Springfield and Joplin on behalf of Republican Sen Jim Talent, who is in a neck-and-neck campaign with Democrat Claire McCaskill.

A protester who held up an ''Impeach'' banner in a packed gymnasium at Le Mars Community High School was quickly shouted down by the crowd with shouts of ''US., US.'' Bush said Democrats are taking a ''calculated gamble'' by attacking him on Iraq without offering their own plan for what they would do if they win control of either the US House of Representatives or the Senate or both.

''They believe the only way they can win this election is to criticise us and offer no specific plan of their own,'' Bush said.

Delaware Democratic Sen Joe Biden argued that Democrats have a plan for Iraq, pointing to letters written to Bush in July, September and October in which they urged him to push Iraqis to reach a sustainable political settlement and disarm militias and hold an international donors conference for reconstruction.

''Attention Mr President: Democrats have offered plans for Iraq. Where is yours?'' Biden's office said in an e-mail.

Bush also crowed about a Labor Department report showing the US unemployment rate dropped in October to 4.4 per cent from 4.6 per cent, its lowest in 5-1/2 years.

Reuters SBA VP0600