Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Patrick Wilson of St. Joseph heads to the entrance of the Bush Legacy Tour bus in Downtown St. Joseph Wednesday afternoon. The 45-foot-long bus is a museum that is being led by Americans United for Change.

Sandy Vandever took in the exhibits but left the partisanship to others. This rolling museum came stocked with an ample supply of politics.

Though the St. Joseph woman knew many of the facts on the wall, and even the floor, of the Bush Legacy Tour bus, she left impressed Wednesday after seeing them compiled in such tight quarters.

“I just wanted to see it,” she said. “It’s part of our history.”

The “Bush Legacy” name, printed on the side of the 45-foot bus with a picture of the current president, had an intent confusing to some. It does not promote a future museum.

In fact, the legacy at issue proves one of a mishandled war, a sinking economy and record gas prices, said Americans United for Change, a Washington-based group sponsoring the national tour.

The bus also took aim at 6th District Congressman Sam Graves, who the sponsors said voted for Mr. Bush’s programs 77 percent of the time during the Tarkio Republican’s legislative tenure.

“It’s not just about (Mr. Bush’s) legacy but also who helped him along the way,” said Julie Blust, the tour’s press secretary. “He wasn’t able to do it on his own. He had their help.”

The bus parked near the corner of Eighth and Edmond streets, outside the St. Joseph building where Mr. Graves has a district office.

Ms. Blust said the bus has visited 42 states since beginning its tour on June 24. While the bus has made stops in districts represented by Democrats in the U.S. House, she could name no Democrats targeted by the tour.

The inside of the bus contained a timeline underfoot and walls filled with data about the Bush administration’s handling of the environment, education, health care and Hurricane Katrina.

Among the exhibits was a gas pump with a computer in its midsection, for tallying the difference in fuel prices from 2000 to present, and a glass bulb on top with the words “Bush & Cheney Oil.”

In a touch screen display under a sign reading “Those Who Marched Us to War,” a readout showed the Iraq conflict costing Missouri taxpayers $5.26 billion.

The Graves campaign had no comment about the bus tour, which scheduled a stop in Springfield, Mo., today.

A Buchanan County Republican, Matt Gerstner, dismissed the traveling museum as “a poor gimmick” that distracted voters from real issues.

“People are looking for solutions on how best to move this country forward,” he said.

Ken Newton can be reached

at kenn@npgco.com.