WASHINGTON (AP) – Governors beginning an annual meeting in the capital hope to find common ground on education, health care, roads and other policy issues caught up in the contentious politics of a presidential campaign.

Near impossible was how some state leaders described that mission Saturday.

On the most prominent challenges before them on the National Governors Association’s annual four-day pilgrimage – roads, President Bush’s education law and Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor – Democrats and Republicans came down on sharply differing sides on what is needed.

Republicans talked mostly about flexibility; Democrats said sweeping changes are needed in policy, backed with more federal money.

“It’s a fine line,” said Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina. “Some of the governors who are Democratic peers of mine see a legitimately different perspective. Others are going to try to grandstand.”

For Democrats, in the midst of a competitive primary race and encouraged as Bush’s national poll numbers drop, it’s no time to cut short the criticism.

“The reality is that in a presidential year, the best the national governors can do will divide the country further,” said New Mexico Democrat Bill Richardson. They can’t avoid the facts, he said: “The huge abdication of financial support from the federal government for (Bush’s education law called) “No Child Left Behind,’ Medicaid and the support for the states.”

Maine Gov. John Baldacci told reporters in Augusta on Friday he hoped to advocate for congressional action to aid dairy farmers during the national gathering.

Presidential year or not, it’s always difficult for governors, usually their party’s state leaders and deeply involved in this year’s campaign, to balance politics and policy.

They try to mark the boundaries with separate meetings of their political wings, the Democratic Governors’ Association and the Republican Governors Association.

“We go to our respective corners,” said Republican Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, chairman of the national association. He was confident governors would find some areas to agree upon but said some differences would remain. “In some cases there just won’t be common ground,” Kempthorne said.

He and several other Republican governors said the education bill has been unfairly maligned. “Education is something we shouldn’t turn into a political football,” said Republican Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. The law is “one of the most innovative and visionary initiatives from the federal government in my lifetime.”

Last year, when state economies were in deep deficit because of the downturn in the economy, Republicans refused to back Democratic efforts to press for a federal bailout. Bush didn’t like the idea, although ultimately $20 billion was added by Congress to help out the states .

This year, states are doing better but still face long-term structural problems, according to recent national surveys. None of the governors said they expected another bailout to be considered this year.

On education, Republican-controlled state legislative bodies in Utah, Virginia, New Hampshire have gone on record criticizing lack of funding for the education law. But the differences among governors probably will leave the argument over dollars out of discussions, Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia said.

The administration granted a concession this week on one of sticking point, easing the law’s requirements for students learning English as a second language that could help schools avoid federal penalties.

It has toughened its position on Medicaid, however, pushing to crack down on the way states leverage federal funds for their state programs. The program provides health care to 50 million people and has ranked among the fastest growing elements in state budgets for several years.

Kathleen Sebelius, Democrat from Kansas, said she would rather her fellow governors speak honestly, regardless of politics.

“There will be a concerted effort by a number of Republican colleagues to not appear critical of the White House, given that we’re going into an election cycle,” she said. “In the candid conversations I had with governors behind closed doors, there was outstanding openness about how many of these programs really don’t work for us. How much of that will be said to the press?”

The financing of highways and mass transit is before Congress now, with a dispute over the size of the spending and how many years the legislation would cover. Governors also are watching closely the reauthorization of the federal welfare law.

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On the Net:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org/

Republican Governors Association: http://www.rga.org/

Democratic Governors’ Association: http://www.democraticgovernors.org/

AP-ES-02-21-04 1409EST