Bush gives campaign a facelift, vows plain talk

WARRENDALE, Pa. (AP) -- George W. Bush, giving his embattled campaign a facelift, said Friday that he was ready to talk to voters -- lots of them.

"I've got to get out and talk to people, and I'm going to do a lot of it," Bush told workers at a factory cafeteria.

Exhibiting more of the confidence typical of his style before polls showed him losing ground to Democratic Presidential rival Al Gore, Bush said he would continue to speak plainly, regardless of poll numbers.

The remarks came a day after Bush said he hoped to interact more with ordinary Americans with a new campaign theme, "Real Plans for Real People."

"When you get in that booth, remember who came by," the Texas governor told a group of about 30 workers at Marconi Communications near Pittsburgh.

One woman in the cafeteria asked Bush if he planned to debate rival Al Gore on television, touching on a question of keen interest in the current presidential race. "There will be debates," Bush said.

The shift from brief, stock speeches came after the Texas governor was pelted Thursday with unsolicited advice from establishment Republicans worried that he had ceded too much momentum to Democratic presidential rival Al Gore. He sought to reassure them by acknowledging the need to retool the campaign and casting himself as the underdog against an incumbent.

But he also suggested the complainers are fair-weather friends, few in number and "ready to jump out of the foxhole before the first shell is fired."