After traveling by bus through Michigan and Ohio early this week, President Bush plans to make several stops throughout Wisconsin and Iowa during his campaign bus tour Friday.

Bearing the slogan “Yes, America Can,” a convoy of eight buses carrying the president, first lady Laura Bush and a host of campaign staffers and volunteers will crisscross the Midwest this week as the Bush-Cheney re-election effort kicks off exceptionally early this year.

All four states Bush is slated to visit are considered viable battlegrounds this fall as Bush goes head-to-head against Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, Mass., in what is expected to be an exceedingly close race.

Although Bush won Ohio’s 20 electoral votes in 2000, he lost by a slim margin to Gore in Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin. Bush lost Wisconsin by only 6,000 votes, or less than one vote per ward.

But many Republicans are hopeful that an extra effort like the bus tour will make up the 2004 vote deficit, ensuring a Bush victory in Wisconsin.

“The Republican party is going about this differently … to get out the vote,” College Republican Frank Harris said. “I’m pretty confident they can get those 6,000 votes.”

Bush has already begun targeting the state over the past month, sending Vice President Dick Cheney to Wisconsin last week. He also visited in late March.

Planning to stop in both Prairie du Chien and La Crosse Friday, the Bush campaign hopes to give an optimistic outlook to a state and a region that has taken some hard hits by the economy recently.

“Wisconsin is helping lead the growth of this country. Farms, factories and offices are shipping high-quality goods all across America, and all throughout the world. The state’s unemployment rate is down from a year ago, below the national average, I might add. The economy is on a path of growth because we acted,” Bush said in Appleton during his speech on the economy.

Wisconsin lost 83,000 jobs over the past three years, 64,000 of which were from the manufacturing sector.

Kerry supporters feel the reality of joblessness in the state will tip the balance in Democrats’ favor come election time.

“It will be a very tough fight. But Democrats will be able to unite and win. People are going to vote with their pocketbooks,” said Mike Pfohl, chair of Wisconsin College Democrats, adding Bush’s bus tour is a sign of weakness rather than strength of the Republican campaign.

“[Bush’s] expensive negative ads are not doing much to persuade the public … they are sending Bush around the country to try to regain some speed.”

According to the New York Times, the Democratic National Committee is planning a “Mission Not Accomplished” campaign in both Michigan and Ohio to highlight job losses under the Bush administration and to counter Bush’s bus tour.

Kerry recently bought $25 million worth of ads, which will be used to run commercials on his record of service in Vietnam as well as his plan to create 10 million new jobs and make health care more affordable.