BANGOR – As supporters on the tarmac at Bangor International Airport waved dozens of large red W’s in the air Thursday, President Bush delivered a vigorous defense of his administration’s policy in Iraq and told Mainers he needed their vote on Nov. 2.

Speaking to a crowd that city police estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 people, the president said the next election would determine how America would respond to terrorism. President Bush said the United States military has chased terrorists across the world “because the lives of our citizens are at stake.”

“Our strategy is clear,” he said. “We’re defending the homeland, we’re transforming our military and we’re strengthening our intelligence services. We’re staying on the offensive. We’re striking the terrorists abroad, so we do not have to face them here at home.”

The president’s visit to Maine’s 2nd Congressional District was the latest in a series of visits by high-profile administration figures in recent weeks that have included first lady Laura Bush and Chief of Staff Andrew Card. Republicans believe they can win at least one of Maine’s four electoral votes in the 2nd District in a national election that some pundits predict could produce a razor-thin margin of victory.

The president emphasized Thursday that United States policy over the past four years has disrupted the world of Islamic terrorism by defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan, has secured a promise to renounce terrorism from Libya and has imposed new restrictions on the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Pakistan to create a safer world.

Bush said the administration’s toughest decision was in Iraq where terrorists were harbored by Saddam Hussein, whom the president described as the “sworn enemy of America.” Insisting Hussein was a “threat,” the president said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks made it clear that the United States had to take threats seriously “before they fully materialize.”

Emphasizing that all options to find a peaceful resolution in Iraq had failed, the president said he had no choice but to take military action when Saddam Hussein refused to comply with U.S. demands that he abide by United Nations provisions and allow unfettered inspections of weapons facilities.

“Do I take the word of a madman and forget the lessons of September 11 or take action to defend this country?” he asked the crowd. “Given that choice I will defend America every time.”

Troop deployments to Iraq show no sign of abating anytime soon, and even as the president was concluding his remarks at the airport, a plane carrying nearly 300 Army National Guard soldiers was on its way to BIA for a scheduled landing. When Bush heard that the plane was en route, he delayed the departure of Air Force One for five minutes so that he could personally see the troops off to their missions in Kuwait and Iraq.

During his victory rally speech on the tarmac, Bush pointed out that his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, also voted for the use of force in Iraq but failed to support $87 billion in supplemental funding earmarked for troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The spending bill passed despite opposition from 12 U.S. senators.

“Only four U.S. senators voted to authorize the use of force and then voted against funding our troops – two of them were my opponent and his running mate,” Bush said to a chorus of boos and hisses from the audience. “He said he actually did vote for the $87 billion before he voted against it. I don’t think a lot of people speak that way in Bangor, Maine. He said it was a complicated matter, but there’s nothing complicated about supporting our troops in combat.”

Jesse Derris, chief spokesman for the Kerry campaign in Maine, said the president didn’t answer any of the questions that Maine people had about another four-year term and that most Mainers “understand that it’s time for a change.”

“The point is he didn’t come here to talk to those who had lost jobs, to families who have lost their health care or seniors who have to leave the country to buy affordable prescription drugs,” Derris said. “All he did was offer the same tired rhetoric and the same ideas he has had for the past four years.”

Promising there would be free elections in Iraq in January 2005, the president expressed frustration with the terrorist abductions and beheadings that make Americans’ “hearts break.”

“They’re cold-blooded killers,” Bush said. “These killers know Americans have a conscience and they don’t. They’re trying to shake our will. We’re going to help this government in Iraq. The way to secure Iraq and bring our troops home is not to wilt, waver or send mixed signals to the enemy. We can grieve but we will not waver.”

Bush blasted Kerry for stating this week that he would have preferred the leadership of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today. The president said the people of a new and free Iraq would not do the hard work to build their country if American leadership is going to tell them they were better off under a ruthless dictator.

“And what kind of message does it send to our troops who are risking their lives and who can see firsthand that the mission is hard?” he said. “Mixed signals are the wrong signals. I will continue to lead with clarity and when I say something, I’ll mean what I say.”