WASHINGTON, Nov 1: The unpopular President George W. Bush is staying off the campaign trail in the race to succeed him.

The president is raising money. But for voters in the swing states that count Florida and Ohio, for example Bush is the invisible incumbent. With a mere 26 per cent approval rating, Bush was expected to keep a low profile in John McCain’s campaign. As it turns out, Bush has been a virtual no-show except in Democratic television ads that regularly tie him to Republican candidates.

Since Bush endorsed McCain on March 5, the two have appeared in public only three times for a total of 12 minutes. That’s in stark contrast to the scores of fundraisers and rallies Bush did before midterm elections in 2002 and 2006.

As McCain and Democrat Barack Obama make their final pitches to voters this weekend, Bush will be spending time at the Camp David presidential retreat. He has no public events on Sunday or Tuesday, not even an Election Day photo op.

He cast an absentee ballot for McCain last week; the White House sent it down to Texas to be counted.

On election night, Bush is expected to watch the returns on television at the White House with friends and celebrate first lady Laura Bush’s 62nd birthday.

The White House says Bush has been trying to stay out of the public spotlight that he’s busy with the financial crisis, two wars and the upcoming transition to a new administration. The economy and recent hurricanes on the Gulf Coast prompted Bush to cancel appearances at fundraisers.

In early September after Hurricane Gustav, Bush scrapped his planned opening-night speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. That worked out well for McCain who has tried hard to distance himself from the president.

Asked if Bush feels unloved by his party, White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said: “I haven’t had this kind of conversation with him, but I don’t believe he takes it personally. He’s been in politics his entire life – he’s been around it his entire life and he knows that it’s a rough-and-tumble business.”

White House aides say the administration and the McCain camp jointly decided months ago that the Arizona senator would do his own politicking and that the president’s time was best spent helping the Republican Party and House and Senate candidates. According to Republican officials, Bush has appeared at 84 events during the 2008 election cycle, raising more than $147 million.

Congressional Republicans, however, rarely if ever mention Bush’s name on the stump. House and Senate Democrats regularly feature him in spots accusing Republican candidates of being in lockstep with the unpopular president.

Some close to the president are out on the trail. Vice-President Dick Cheney campaigned in Wyoming on today for three Republicans running for the House and Senate in his home state, and Mrs Bush was expected to be in Kentucky on election eve at a get-out-the-vote rally.—AP