President Bush offered solace for flood victims and scorn for Sen. John Kerry yesterday as he inspected the ravages of last weekend's flooding in Allegheny County before heading to a campaign rally in Latrobe.

VWH Campbell, Post-Gazette President Bush, accompanied by Secret Service agents, returns a salute to Shaler Police Chief Jeffrey Gally on his way to Marine One and a trip to Latrobe yesterday. Bush made a helicopter stop in Millvale after viewing flood-damaged communities in Allegheny County. Click photo for larger image. Related coverage Roundup of related coverage Carlynton football team aids those devastated by flood Pinball group's headquarters destroyed Radio aiding flood victims Tips, services and information

On his 37th visit to Pennsylvania as president, Bush traded Air Force One for Marine One at the 911th Air Force Reserve Base to get a firsthand look at the devastation. His airborne entourage flew over Carnegie before circling Millvale and Etna, then landing at a ballfield on the hills above the two hard-hit Allegheny River towns.

From the air, even from just a few hundred feet, the damage inflicted by the record rains of Friday was sometimes difficult to discern. But as Bush's motorcade descended into Millvale, the toll was unmistakable. He passed homes and businesses where the weekend's wreckage was piled high in front. These ugly monuments to the flood's power lined narrow streets coated with dust that had been mud.

Accompanied by Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, Bush was briefed on the local damage by county Chief Executive Dan Onorato in the Millvale fire station.

"I know there are people here who are concerned as to whether or not they'll ever get their life back together," Bush said in brief remarks afterward. "I hope my visit here with the senators and congressmen say as clearly as we can that we care about the devastation that took place, that we understand the federal government has an obligation to help and we will."

Bush pointed out that Mike Brown, the chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was along to study the area's recovery needs.

"The best way to make sure people understand FEMA is going to move quickly is bring the main guy with me. ... I wanted him to hear firsthand what the people in these communities and this county have been through," Bush said. "And I want [Brown] to know that he's going to respond as quickly as he can."

Part of that response came yesterday as FEMA approved disaster assistance for 20 additional counties, including Clarion and Bedford in Western Pennsylvania, bringing the total number of counties in Pennsylvania under the disaster designation to 46.

"You know, I saw the look in the people's eyes when I was driving through the town here -- small business owners and entrepreneurs whose businesses were destroyed, their stuff piled up in front of their businesses, wondering whether there's a future." Bush said. "I predict to you, Mr. Mayor, that within a reasonable period of time, this town is going to be back on its feet."

Onorato said he was grateful for the opportunity to impress on the president the still rising toll of damage from the floods.

"Yes, it helps," the Democrat said of the briefing and tour.

"His words really lifted our spirits," said Millvale Mayor James Burn.

Residents lined the streets of Shaler and Millvale as Bush rode past. Many held flags or handmade pro-Bush signs. Others seemed merely curious. One isolated protestor held a sign that read: "Help Us -- Not Iraq."

As she waited for a glimpse of the president across from the ballfield that was his makeshift landing field, Chris Stamper, of Millvale, said, "It's sad that he's here because of the situation, but I'm glad he came to see it. It's a horrible thing,"

For any incumbent in an election, the line between governing and politics can sometimes be tough to discern, but that wasn't the case later in Latrobe, as Bush basked in bright sun and full-throated cheers at a rally on the tarmac of the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.

After being introduced by the legendary golfer who is the airport's namesake, Bush launched into a stump speech that continued the acrid exchanges over Iraq that Kerry and Bush have traded over the last week.

"The way to secure Iraq and bring our troops home is not to wilt or waver, or send mixed signals," Bush said the day after his adamant defense of the war at the United Nations.

	VWH Campbell, Post-Gazette President Bush greets a group of enthusiastic youths during a campaign stop in Latrobe. The girls on the right were elated after the president touched their hands. Click photo for larger image.

"Incredibly, this week, my opponent said he would prefer the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today," Bush said, prompting lusty boos from the crowd, along with shouts of "He's an idiot" and "Flip-flopper."

The Kerry campaign released a statement from the Democratic candidate yesterday, seizing on an earlier comment from Bush in which he alluded to "a handful of people who are willing to kill" in order to stop the march toward Democratic government in Iraq.

"George Bush is living in a make-believe world, unwilling to tell the truth or understand the situation in Iraq. Even today, he blundered by saying there are only a handful of terrorists in Iraq," Kerry said while campaigning in Florida."

Attempting to rebut Bush's accusation that he had changed his position on Iraq in a speech Monday, Kerry said, "I have laid out specific steps to win the war, not to change, not to retreat -- steps to win ... he won't tell the American people the truth, so he sets up something that's not a real issue and attacks it."

The exchange took place as the Bush campaign released a new ad, seeking to buttress its recurrent charge of flip-flops. The ad shows Kerry windsurfing while contending that the Democrat's positions shift "whichever way the wind blows."

The Associated Press reported that Kerry touched on the specter of a renewed military draft during his Florida campaigning.

Answering a question about possible revival of the draft, Kerry said, "If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, it is possible. I can't tell you."