DENVER -- President Bush arrived in Denver Monday as part of a western campaign swing.

Seeking to protect his party's precarious control of the Senate, Bush encouraged Colorado's GOP faithful Monday to help elect brewing magnate Peter Coors.

"I'm here asking for the vote," Bush said at a fund-raiser for Coors. "I'm here to say as clearly as I can say it: The right man for the United States Senate is the man right here -- Pete Coors."

Bush also used his stop in Colorado to lash out at Democrat John Kerry's record, warning that an indecisive president would be dangerous.

"If we show uncertainty or weakness in this decade, this world will drift toward tragedy," he said. "This won't happen on my watch."

About 500 people paid $1,000 each to attend the fund-raiser at the Wings Over the Rockies museum at the former Lowry Air Force Base.

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Coors, who is locked in a tight battle with Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar, said he would bring new ideas and a healthy dose of "Colorado common sense" to the Senate.

"I believe in less government and lower taxes," Coors said.

Bush said he wants Coors in the Senate to help reduce regulations on business, which he said would speed economic recovery.

The president also said he wants Coors in a Republican-led senate to help push his agenda for education, health care and tax cuts, as well as to confirm federal judges who will issue rulings based on "strict interpretations of the law."

But Bush said he recognized that Coors would not vote in lockstep with his plans.

In an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Coors made statements counter to administration stands on Iraq and North Korea.

He said that "given what we know today," Congress' vote to authorize the war in Iraq would have a "much different outcome." He also said that "we should be more worried today" about the weapons ambitions of Iran and North Korea than about Iraq."

Salazar campaign spokesman Cody Wertz said Salazar wouldn't be a rubber stamp for the president no matter who is in the White House.

"In the end Ken is going to do what's best for the people of Colorado," he said.

The race between Salazar and Coors for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell is one of the most closely watched in the country because it could decide which party controls the Senate. Republicans hold a 51-48 edge.

Recent polls on the Senate race have been contradictory. A Denver Post poll released Saturday said Salazar had 46 percent support to Coors' 44 percent, well within the margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Salazar had an 11-point lead in a CNN-USA Today poll by Gallop earlier this month. That poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Bush Rallies At Red Rocks

Bush then left the fund-raiser for a campaign rally at Red Rocks Amphitheater, where he ridiculed Kerry for suggesting that the anti-terror battle should reduce terrorists to a nuisance from the current full-time crisis.

Bush told a crowd of about 10,000 people that Kerry "fundamentally misunderstands" the war against terror when he refers to it as a nuisance, a law enforcement and intelligence operation similar to fighting prostitution and illegal gambling.

"Our goal is not to reduce terror to some level of nuisance, our goal is to defeat terrorism," Bush said.

Colorado, where Republicans and unaffiliated voters each outnumber Democrats, went for Bush in 2000. Recent state polls have shown Bush and Kerry in a statistical tie or Bush up to 12 percentage points ahead of Kerry.

The president was introduced by General Tommy Franks and was on stage with Coors and Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan.

"I'm proud to be introduced by a great American, Tommy Franks. He'll go down in history as one of America's great generals. America is more secure and the world is better off because of the generalship of General Tommy Franks," Bush said.

"I said (to Mike), 'Do you have any suggestions?' He said, ' Yeah, stay on the offense,'" Bush said, smiling.

Bush talked about terrorism and the beginning and at the end of his speech, but he also touched on domestic issues.

"We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters and every being counts," he said.

Bush was cheered when someone in the crowd shouted "We love ya Dubya", causing the president to blush.

Political consultant Katy Atkinson said Bush and Kerry keep coming to Colorado because they want to make sure their supporters vote.

"I think it's the Senate race that is giving Kerry hope. Right now, everything is about voter turnout," Atkinson said.

After spending Monday night in Denver, Bush will hold a rally at Colorado Springs World Arena on Tuesday morning, before heading to campaign stops in Arizona.

Kerry's Daughter Campaigns For Father In Colorado

Kerry's daughter, Alex, paid a visit to Colorado Monday taking part in a press conference in Jefferson County and hosting two question-and-answer sessions with students in Denver at the Auraria Campus and Boulder at the University of Colorado campus.

"My father is for affirmative action and he believes in the philosophical idea of diversity in the United States and giving everyone an opportunity," she said at the Auraria campus.

She said her father is committed to preserving Colorado's quality of life and claims Bush has a poor record on the environment and energy policy. U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and Dave Thomas, a Democratic candidate for Congress, were both at the press conference held at the Jefferson County fairgrounds.

Alex Kerry has been actively campaigning for her father since the early primary contests, helping to organize artists and attending local house parties on the west coast. Along with her sister, she introduced her father at the Democratic National Convention.

Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards was scheduled to hold a town hall rally Tuesday in Commerce City, Colo.

On his fourth campaign stop in Colorado, Edwards will host a town hall meeting at 9 a.m. at Adams City High School. Tickets are available at several Democratic headquarters in Denver and Adams County. Those who want more information should call (303) 830-0246, ext. 147.

Two More Weeks To Attack Hard

Starting last week with a retooled stump speech and highlighted in their second debate, held Friday in St. Louis, Bush has delighted Republican supporters with a harder-hitting stance against Kerry.

Hoping to stunt the momentum the Massachusetts senator gained from a much-praised showing in the first debate and a week of difficult news for Bush on Iraq and the economy, aides are signaling the anti-Kerry arsenal is far from depleted.

"There's a lot more in (Kerry's) record that the American people are going to hear and know about by the time it's all over," said Karl Rove, Bush's chief political adviser.

Looking ahead to the final debate, set to focus entirely on domestic issues, Bush is devoting more time to talking about Kerry's record on taxes, health care and other domestic issues.

In the process, he is seeking to drive home two main characterizations of his rival: that Kerry is a die-hard liberal who lacks credibility because he tries to paint himself as otherwise. It's the domestic version of the weak, flip-flopping image the Bush team has tried to attach to Kerry on Iraq and the war on terror.

In his speeches, Bush repeats the phrase that has his audience often chanting along with him -- that Kerry "can run but he cannot hide" from a record that the president criticizes as both unimpressive and unabashedly liberal.

Nevada and Colorado, also Bush states in 2000, tilt toward the incumbent but remain on Kerry's target list.

Kerry even spent a few days in Colorado preparing for last week's second debate, and watched the vice presidential debate on television with his wife, Teresa -- who made her own visit to Colorado in late September.