ELLSWORTH – President Bush’s White House chief of staff downplayed Friday the effect that news about missing explosives in Iraq might have on the final days of the election season.

Andrew Card, directly after addressing Republicans at a rally at Hilltop House restaurant in Ellsworth, said that when the explosives vanished likely will be known in the next few days.

At issue is whether the material, reportedly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives, disappeared from the Al Qaqaa military installation outside Baghdad before or after Saddam Hussein’s regime fell and American troops arrived at the site in April 2003.

Card suggested Friday that interest in the missing explosives might be a last-minute effort by the media to throw something “not grounded in reality” into the election fray.

News about the missing explosives was first reported widely on Monday, eight days before voters are expected to pick either Bush or his Democratic opponent, Sen. John Kerry, as the next president.

Though White House officials have suggested the explosives disappeared from the site before Saddam’s fall from power, Kerry has criticized Bush for not securing the missing explosives, claiming it is a blunder that illustrates Bush’s “incompetence” in handling the war in Iraq.

Jesse Derris, spokesman for Kerry’s Maine campaign, restated this position Friday.

“Bush misled us into war in Iraq and continues to ignore the reality on the ground there,” Derris said. “The blame lies with the president and it is far past time for him to accept responsibility.”

Card turned the criticism back on the Democratic candidate, who he said does not like to talk about his Senate record.

“We should learn the facts, and I’m offended John Kerry would react without learning the facts,” Card said.

Kerry and Bush supporters, including Card and Derris, each have accused the other side of insulting or blaming American troops serving in Iraq for the disappearance of the explosives.

Card’s brief appearance in Ellsworth was one of three expected Friday in Maine’s tightly contested 2nd Congressional District, where the Bush and Kerry campaigns each hope to win on Nov. 2 what could be an important electoral vote.

Immediately after the Ellsworth rally, Card was expected to travel to Caribou and then to Waterville for similar events.

Maine and Nebraska are the only states with electoral votes that can be split between opposing candidates. In Maine, the winner in each of the state’s two districts will get one electoral vote, and the statewide winner will get two.

Card, in addressing his fellow Republicans, said Friday that Bush has great respect for the presidency and does not make decisions lightly.

The president, he said, is a punctual man with a “backbone” and “strong moral values” who appreciates the sacrifices made by American men and women in the military.

“You are on the eve of a very important time,” Card said. “He needs your help in order to provide the right kind of leadership over the next four years.”

People attending the event, who crowded into the dining room where Card spoke, began chanting “four more years” at the end of Card’s remarks.

Ten or so Democrats holding pro-Kerry and anti-Bush signs stood outside the restaurant as Card arrived for the rally but were gone before Card left less than an hour later.