PRESIDENT'S CHOPPER ENTRY WOWS FAITHFUL

He Greeted Backers in a State Largely Bypassed in the Race.

As two Marine helicopters swooped over Tuckerton Road yesterday
afternoon and made a thunderous landing at the Evesham Township
Recreation Center, a bolt of electricity shot through a waiting,
partisan crowd that rarely had seen their man in New Jersey.

"Here he comes," someone shouted as three more helicopters - one
carrying the President - appeared over the trees.

The crowd chanted "Four more years" until President Bush, appearing at
his first campaign rally in a state once solidly in the Democratic
column, strided into an open field to wave to the party faithful.

"He went out of his way to greet everyone," Lenora Annibale of Cherry
Hill said soon after Bush headed into the recreation center to give
his speech. "He's top-notch. He's my hero."

Until yesterday, the presidential campaign had largely bypassed New
Jersey, but Bush's visit brought the kinds of sign-toting crowds and
heated rhetoric that would have made any of the traditional
battleground states proud.

Howard Wilson, who described himself as a Catholic Vietnam veteran
from Mount Laurel, blasted Democratic challenger John Kerry's
character and positions.

"I don't like cowardly people who are deceitful about what they do,"
he said. "I'm a Catholic, and I was an altar boy, and I make my vote
count for pro-life."

Wilson was among hundreds of Republicans who waited outside the
recreation center for a glimpse of their candidate. Only those who
could secure a ticket were allowed inside to hear the President's speech.

"We tried to get inside, but that's nearly impossible," Jay Sikora of
Marlton said as he waved a sign reading: "I actually did vote for John
Kerry, before I voted against him."

Across Tuckerton Road, about 50 Democrats gathered around a red, white
and blue school bus - the "Bus for Change" - on which a costumed
Pinnochio character stood and fired up the crowd with accusations that
the President lies.

The two sides heckled each other loudly. The only arrest reported was
of a medical-marijuana activist who crossed a police line while
pushing the wheelchair once used by his deceased wife.

The Democrats responded with their own chants, such as "Two more
weeks" and "Bush lied, grown men died."

Andy Coleman, who lives near Belmar in Monmouth County, owns the Bus
for Change. He said he was never politically active until this year,
when he heard the famed Swift Boat ads attacking Kerry's Vietnam service.

"The Swift Boat ads sent me to Home Depot with a credit card to get
some paint," he said. "I said, 'This is wrong. I've got this bus.
Let's do it.' "

The state Kerry campaign plans to borrow the bus at six events this
week, said A.J. Sabath, the state campaign director. But, he said,
Kerry will not be tricked into spending resources in New Jersey
because of Bush's visit.

"The state is still blue," he said. "We're not going to take the
bait."

For the Republicans, however, Bush's visit highlighted hopes for a
changing political landscape in New Jersey. A Bush victory in the
state "would be huge," said John Merla, the mayor of Keyport, as he
waited in line to enter the recreation center.

Merla and several other Monmouth and Warren County Republicans got
tickets to the speech from State Sen. Joe Kyrillos, the state
Republican chairman. Terence Wall, a Township Committee member in
Holmdel, also predicted an important victory for the President in New
Jersey.

"It would be a watershed event that would affect future elections,
including the gubernatorial election next year," he said. Gov.
McGreevey "has taken the wind out of the Democrats' sails."

After his speech, the President came outside to make a few comments to
the crowd, quickly touching on the novelty of his visit.

"So, you're wondering what a Republican presidential candidate is
doing in New Jersey," he said. "I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm
sending a strong message that with your help, we can carry New Jersey
on Nov. 2."