MIAMI (AP) – Call it the politics of hurricanes.

Before settling into final preparations for his first debate with Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry on Thursday, President Bush flew to Lake Wales, Fla., on Wednesday to walk through a citrus grove damaged by Hurricane Jeanne, the fourth hurricane in the past two months to devastate the Sunshine State.

After each storm, Bush has scuttled weekend or campaign plans and hopped aboard Air Force One for a quick trip to view the damage or personally help deliver ice and comfort to hurricane-weary Floridians.

Why has the president – whose aides said early in the administration that he wouldn’t engage in as many “I feel your pain” gestures as President Clinton – rushed to Florida after every storm? Because it allows him to employ the power of the presidency and the perks of incumbency to benefit his re-election bid, several political analysts said.

And Bush’s approach to the hurricanes shows that he’s learned from the failures of his father’s presidency, the experts said. The elder Bush was roundly criticized for his slow response to Hurricane Andrew in the election year of 1992.

Richard F. Foglesong, a political science professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., said that this year, the president almost was employing a White House “Rose Garden strategy” by going to disaster scenes and promising federal relief while avoiding the impression that the actions were motivated by the election.

“It’s a political thing,” he said of Bush’s visits, “but it doesn’t appear to be a political thing. It allows him to stay above the fray.”

He said the president’s post-hurricane visit to this battleground state “reminds people that he’s the leader and the person to turn to in times of trouble.”

The White House put out another reminder Monday in the form of a news release that detailed Bush’s $7.1 billion supplemental budget request to respond to damage from Hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne. With that request, the total supplemental budget request for Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne exceeds $12.2 billion, White House officials said.

The ability to deliver cash to hard-hit areas is a presidential perk in an election year, said Matthew T. Corrigan, an associate political science professor at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

“It’s appropriate for the president and the governor (Republican Jeb Bush, the president’s brother) to tour damage, but everything is going to be seen through a political lens in an election year,” Corrigan said.

“The president can come in and bring in funding from the federal government. And it doesn’t hurt that he has a brother viewed as doing a good job in handling the hurricanes. But in two or three weeks, if some people are still struggling, the politics of hurricanes can turn on you.”

The quadruple-hurricane whammy has been anything but a perfect storm for Kerry. The storms have forced him to reduce his campaigning in the state in deference to people trying to put their lives back together, and to avoid the appearance of using the disasters for political gain.

“John Kerry has to do the polite thing and stay away from a state that is distressed,” Foglesong said. “He’s really frozen. That’s a double win for Bush.”

Michael McCurry, a senior Kerry adviser, said the Massachusetts senator didn’t begrudge Bush for his frequent Florida trips, and vowed that Kerry will be very visible and active in the state before the November election.

The first President Bush was blasted for what critics – including some in his own party – viewed as a slow and impersonal White House response to Hurricane Andrew. After nearly a week of criticism, he canceled five days of campaign and vacation appearances to tour damaged areas and oversee recovery efforts.

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(c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): BUSH

AP-NY-09-29-04 1802EDT