"Looking forward to today," he says. "It's been a really interesting, great experience getting to know America firsthand the way Laura and I have been able to do so. I'm excited. I trust the people."

Bush's serene demeanor this morning provides a stark contrast to the preening, mugging cockiness exhibited by his staff, most notably chief strategist Karl Rove, but also a handful of lower-level staffers who have become insufferable.

Not so Bush, at least not in public, as national polls show the race tightening. At a rally in Chattanooga, Tenn., Bush delights the crowd with cautious confidence.

"Ah like what ah feel!" he crows. "Ah like what ah feel! But we can't take anything for granted!"

"I, of course, come from Texas and I plan on carrying my home state," he says. "My opponent vows to carry his home state, and he may win Washington, D.C., but he's not going to carry Tennessee!"

Indeed, it’s looking like Vice President Al Gore may not earn his home state's 11 electoral votes. And the crowd knows this and cheers, filled as it is with state VIPs, further evidence of how Republican this state is: Gov. Don Sundquist, Sen. Bill Frist, Representatives Zach Wamp, Van Hilleary and Jimmy Duncan. Past GOP power players also show: Sens. Mac Mattingly and Howard Baker; ex-Bush presidential rival and former Gov. Lamar Alexander.

Also on hand are country-and-western singers Lee Greenwood, Loretta Lynn and Michael W. Smith -- plus a black-leather-fringed Billy Ray Cyrus, who I was pretty sure had endorsed the vice president, even though his cloying "We the People" song is a Bush rally staple.

Has Cyrus changed his political allegiance, concerned about Gore's ability to carry Florida?

"I keep an open mind," Cyrus says. "America is at a crossroads here. You know, I'm the father of five. This is the future of our country right here."

As goes Billy Ray Cyrus, so goes the nation.

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