WASHINGTON -- "We are safer today. But we are not safe."

That conclusion, in Thursday's final report of the Sept. 11 commission, was welcome news for President Bush's re-election campaign. In fact, Bush and his aides have been using the phrase in recent speeches, almost word for word in some cases.

The commission's embrace of a Bush campaign slogan, by coincidence or design, was emblematic of the much-anticipated report. Though openly dreaded for months by many Republicans and quietly feared by the White House, the report was much gentler on the Bush administration than they feared.

Rather than focus criticism on the Bush administration, the commission spread blame broadly and evenly across two administrations, the FBI and the Congress. The panel, though hardly flattering of the Bush administration, did not endorse the view of star witness and former White House counterterrorism director Richard Clarke that the Bush administration cared less about terrorism than the Clinton administration. And Chairman Thomas Kean even stood in the Rose Garden on Thursday praising Bush's cooperation -- after months of complaints by the commission about a lack of access.

Bush, who originally opposed the commission's creation, and then squabbled with it, rushed to embrace it after aides concluded that was a wiser course than disputing areas of disagreement. Bush's staff hastily announced the appearance in the Rose Garden, where Bush patted Kean and Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton on the back.

Later, in Glenview, Ill., Bush highlighted the report's emphasis on "deep institutional failings" and said, "The commission's recommendations are consistent with the strategy my administration is following to address these failings and to win the war on terror." Bush read several recommendations, prefacing each by asserting, "We agree."

Certainly, there is plenty of damning material in the report's 567 pages about the Bush administration's actions before and after the 2001 attacks. There were administration doubts about CIA Director George Tenet's prophetic claim in the summer of 2001 that "the system was blinking red." Before the attack, there were the 36 presidential intelligence briefings given Bush that mentioned al-Qaida or Osama bin Laden. There was more confirmation that top officials such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Paul Wolfowitz were obsessed with attacking Iraq in the days after the Sept. 11 strikes.

Also, the commission notably declined to endorse Bush's view that the Iraq war has improved Americans' security and was part of the war on terrorism. In a clear dispute with Bush, the commission concluded that there were contacts between Iraq and al-Qaida, "but to date we have seen no evidence that these ... ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship."

But while there is little in the report for the Bush administration to be proud of, the commission's emphasis on structural changes to be made -- and its determination not to assign personal blame -- allowed the White House to dodge a bullet that allies were convinced was headed its way when House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., tried in vain to prevent the commission from releasing its report on the eve of this week's Democratic convention.

Instead, Hastert was exultant Thursday, recommending the report as "extremely important" in an enthusiastic statement. "President Clinton is not to blame for those attacks. President Bush is not to blame for the attacks. Al-Qaida is to blame."

The campaign of Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, Mass., drafted a document citing two dozen damaging passages in the commission's report. And Kerry told reporters that divisions within the Bush administration had "created a struggle that has delayed our ability to move forward."

But for the most part, Democrats shifted their attention from the report's limited faultfinding to what is likely to be the next political battle: a pre-election struggle to turn the commission's extensive policy recommendations into law. Kerry himself issued a statement applauding plans by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., to write legislation with the recommendations.

"The administration and the Congress must get to work on this legislation immediately," Kerry said. Promising to convene an "emergency security summit," he added, "If I am elected president and there has still not been sufficient progress on these issues, I will not wait a single day more."

In a sign of an emerging dispute over the legislation, GOP congressional leaders suggested the matter would not be considered before the election. "We're not going to rush through anything," Hastert said.

Similarly, Bush did not commit to legislation or a timetable Thursday. He embraced the "common-sense approach to how to move forward" but did not speak specifically about implementing their "very constructive recommendations." Two of his advisers, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and acting CIA Director John McLaughlin, have already opposed the notion of an intelligence coordinator, a central recommendation of the commission.

Bush said only that he would "carefully study" all the proposals. "We agree that better coordination between the various intelligence agencies is needed," he said. "We agree that more human intelligence is needed."

Administration officials said Thursday was the beginning of an effort by Bush to regain his footing on terrorism, an issue he successfully exploited while campaigning in the midterm elections but where he now faces charges that too little has been done. Democrats served notice that they would try to deny Bush an effort to rebuild his terrorism credentials by fighting for more expeditious action on the recommendations -- an unusual proposition three months before the election. Former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta complained that GOP leaders "have promised no action on the recommendations until after the November elections," adding, "Americans deserve that this report be taken seriously and acted on without delay and with bipartisan support."