WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will visit states key to his reelection bid on Wednesday in an effort to build political momentum after a State of the Union speech in which he urged Americans to stick with his leadership and defiantly defended the Iraq war.

In a two-day blitz in which he will compete for attention with the intensifying struggle among Democratic presidential candidates ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Bush will talk about job training and his global war on terror during stops in Ohio, Arizona and New Mexico.

"These are three must-win battleground states that the White House has obviously identified as top-tier," Republican strategist Scott Reed said.

Bush laid out a stay-the-course theme on Tuesday evening in his State of the Union speech, which was seen as setting the tone for his reelection campaign. He said the U.S. economy was growing and the United States was making progress against terrorism.

"We can go forward with confidence and resolve, or we can turn back to the dangerous illusion that terrorists are not plotting and outlaw regimes are no threat to us. We can press on with economic growth, and reforms in education and Medicare -- or we can turn back to the old policies and old divisions," Bush said.

He also issued a point-by-point rebuttal of Democratic criticisms on issues including his handling of the Iraq war to oust Saddam Hussein. "Had we failed to act, the dictator's weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day," Bush said. No significant Iraqi unconventional weapons have been found since the invasion.

Bush won Arizona and the major industrial state of Ohio in 2000, although former Democratic president Bill Clinton won both states in his 1996 reelection campaign. Bush lost New Mexico by 366 votes to Democrat Al Gore in 2000.

A White House spokeswoman said Bush has not yet begun to campaign, although he has followed an ambitious travel schedule of fund-raising and policy events.

Bush campaign officials have said the president was unlikely to begin overt campaigning until a Democratic nominee becomes clear -- which seems more distant following Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry's surprise victory in the Iowa party caucuses on Monday.

In Perrysburg Township, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday, Bush is to visit community colleges to highlight a $500 million education and job-training initiative outlined in his State of the Union speech.

The initiative includes $250 million for jobs partnerships between community colleges and employers.

Angela Ondrus, president of the faculty association at Owens Community College in Perrysburg, which is near Toledo, said Bush's proposals fall far short of the need. "It's merely a drop in the bucket when you compare to the drop in the state budget cuts to higher education," she said.