BILLINGS, Mont. - US President Bush, campaigning in a Republican stronghold for an endangered GOP senator, tried to rally his supporters Thursday by portraying Democrats as soft on terrorists and opposed to conservative judges.

Bush chided Democrats who voted against legislation to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists, the National Security Agency's eavesdropping program and the U.S.A. Patriot Act.

President Bush gestures as he speaks to supporters at a campaign rally at MetraPark Arena in Billings, Mont., Thursday, November 2, 2006. [AP]

"When it comes to listening to the terrorists, what's the Democrat's answer? Just say no,'" Bush said, urging the audience to play along.

"When it comes to detaining terrorists, what's the Democrats' answer?"

"Just say no!" the audience retorted.

"So when the Democrats ask for your vote on Nov. 7, what's your answer?" Bush asked.

"Just say no!" the crowd screamed.

Bush campaigned here for Sen. Conrad Burns, a vulnerable incumbent in a tough campaign battle against Democratic challenger Jon Tester, the president of the Montana Senate. Tester was holding rallies of his own on the other side of the state Thursday and Friday with fellow Democrats Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Sen. Max Baucus (news, bio, voting record).

With polls showing the public opposed to the war in Iraq, Democrats have expressed increasing optimism in recent days that they will gain the 15 seats they need to win control of the House. Democrats must pick up six seats to win the Senate, a taller challenge, and both parties made last-minute efforts to increase the number of competitive races.

Montana was Bush's first stop on his final push to Election Day that includes stops in Nevada, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas and Florida.

The rally had the flavor of Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Speakers blared Bush's campaign theme song, "Only in America," and the president opened his remarks with a comment he used in 2004:"It's good to be in a part of the world where the cowboy hats outnumber the ties."

Bush, invigorated by the rally, gleefully predicted that Republicans will retain control of Congress, just as they retained control of the White House in 2004 when Democrats, he said, were measuring the West Wing.

"The movers never got the call," Bush said. "The same thing is going to happen on Nov. 7. We will win the Senate and we will win the House."

Bush also said veteran Republican senators like Burns are needed to help the Senate confirm judicial conservatives to the federal bench. When Montana voters cast their ballots, they're not only deciding who will represent them in Washington, they will be deciding what kind of judges sit on federal courts across the nation, Bush said.

"We believe that judges ought to strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the bench," Bush said.