Opinion: Will 43 do all 50?

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President Bush’s stop at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., today marked the 49th state he has visited since moving into the White House in 2001, notes James Gerstenzang, who covers the White House for The Times.

The previous two presidents --- his father, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton --- made a point of stopping in all 50 (though the latter barely made it, traveling to Nebraska during the last month of his second term). One can only assume the current White House occupant (known by close associates as ‘43’ to distinguish himself from his dad, who was the 41st president) will check out the last outpost on his itinerary before he rides off into the Texas sunset.

If and when Bush does make that trip, it could be an entertaining visit to watch. The state?

Vermont --- home of Howard Dean, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and more Birkenstocks than there are cattle at Bush’s Texas ranch. ... OK, so that’s not too many, but you get the idea. The embrace Bush could expect from the Green Mountain State would not likely be warm --- 59% of the 2004 vote there went to John Kerry.

Bush stopped in Rhode Island --- another solidly blue state --- to deliver his latest plea for patience with his troop ‘surge’ policy in Iraq; remarks coming as Republican defections mount on that front. He then proceeded up the coast for a working vacation at the family house on Walker’s Point in Kennebunkport, Maine. There, he’ll be kicking back with his father and, during the weekend, Soviet President Vladimir Putin.

Expectations are low on the diplomatic level, but the elder Bush thinks a little bonding time between his son and Putin would be good, according to the Associated Press.

‘Sit down, no necktie, sit in a beautiful house overlooking the sea and talk frankly without a lot of straphangers and note-takers, people that have separate agendas handing you notes and all of that,’ the former president said. He also suggested a bit of recreational bonding, saying, ‘Fishing is good for the soul. Fishing is good for one person to get to know another.’

Especially if they aren’t biting.

-- Scott Martelle