Protesters greet Bush at King ceremony

ATLANTA -- President Bush laid a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday on what would have been the slain civil rights leader's 75th birthday, as hundreds of angry protesters chanted slogans against his policies and booed him from across the street.

The wreath-laying at the King Center and the Bush-Cheney campaign fund-raiser that followed capped a day in which the Bush administration reached out to black voters, the vast majority of whom are Democrats who have strongly objected to the president's policies.

The president bowed in silent prayer after placing the wreath at the head of the tomb. His view of the protesters was blocked by a line of city buses. Police in riot gear positioned themselves on top of the buses.

Bush, who made no remarks at the ceremony in Atlanta, had started his day in New Orleans, touting his faith-based initiative at a black church where King preached 43 years ago.

"I'm not really worthy to stand here," Bush said from the pulpit of Union Bethel AME, a 139-year-old church in a poor neighborhood not far from the Louisiana Superdome. "Dr. King understood that faith is power greater than all others. It's an important lesson for us to remember here in America -- that God's word can humble the mighty, can lift up the meek, and can bring comfort and strength to all who yearn for justice and freedom."

Bush followed his appearances at Union Bethel and at King's tomb with fund-raisers that brought in a combined $2.3 million for his reelection campaign, and black political officials said the president was using the stops as an opportunity to raise money. That a dozen Georgia Democrats, led by US Senator Zell Miller, who introduced Bush at his evening fund-raiser, endorsed the president yesterday added to Democratic anger.

"Every policy decision of the Bush administration, including the war in Iraq, health care, jobs, the economy, judicial nominations, housing, the environment, as well as secondary and higher education, has done nothing to strengthen Dr. King's dream," said US Representative Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. "In fact, on this very day last year, President Bush announced his opposition to the University of Michigan's diversity-based admissions policy."

Bush criticized that admissions policy as being tantamount to a quota system and directed lawyers in his administration to support two lawsuits that were aimed at forcing university officials to change the policy. The president's actions cemented a negative view of Bush that many blacks had carried over from the 2000 campaign, when more than 90 percent of those who voted cast their ballots for his opponent, Al Gore.

Several hundred protesters marched across the street from the King Center, holding up signs critical of the president's policies on Iraq, health care, and the Middle East peace process. The protesters banged on a drum and chanted for Bush to go home.

Bush's arrival in New Orleans caused much less of a stir than did his trip to Atlanta. The black mayor of New Orleans, C. Ray Nagin, and a black Democrat from the area, US Representative William J. Jefferson, were among those who greeted the president when Air Force One touched down at the city's airport.

There were no protests, only curious onlookers eager for a glimpse of Bush.

During a discussion in a cramped room in the bowels of Union Bethel, Bush praised -- and was praised for -- his faith-based initiative, designed to make it easier for religious organizations to get federal funding to provide social services.

Some object to the initiative as an unconstitutional mixing of church and state, but Bush has pressed ahead, arguing that religious organizations should not be discriminated against when it comes to getting federal funds.

Before speaking from the pulpit at Union Bethel, he met with nearly two dozen local religious and faith-based organization leaders who thanked him for making it easier for their programs to get federal funds. Bush described his decision to push for the initiative in sharply personal terms. "See, I was a drinker at one time in my life," Bush said. "I changed my habits because I changed my heart, which is how faith-based programs work. We all make decisions based upon our own life experiences. . . . I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't ask for Christ's help."

Those in the room nodded their heads and murmured their agreement.