HELENA -- The re-election campaign of President Bush is keeping a low profile for the time being, and that's just the way the chairman likes it.

Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who took over the campaign in mid-2003, said Friday the strategy is to largely ignore criticism of Bush by the seven Democratic candidates until that party's nominee emerges from the primaries.

''The president has told us very plainly that we were going to do that because, number one, he was going to focus on his job and was not going to engage in politics any sooner than was necessary," Racicot said in an interview Friday.

''He thought that if we engaged with some of the allegations, we would provide credibility by responding to them," Racicot said. ''Many of them are fairly angry and shallow on their surface."

While Bush used his State of Union Address in part to respond to critics, he was careful not to attack them or mention any names, Racicot said.

Racicot, chairman of the Republican National Committee before directing the Bush campaign, was in Helena to speak at an annual meeting of the local chamber of commerce and to visit his elderly mother.

He took a jab at Democrat Howard Dean, whose fist-pumping rant Monday night after finishing third in the Iowa caucuses has been the butt of jokes since.

Such an emotional outburst has no place in politics, Racicot said.

''By jumping and screaming or being mean or ornery or opportunistic, you don't serve your cause at all," Racicot said. ''What happened in Iowa is proof of that.

''These people that scream or yell or try to shove things in the face of the American people, don't have confidence in the American people. They want things too desperately.

Racicot, 55, said he talks with Bush about once every three weeks, but doesn't advise the president on policy. Rather, his job is to promote and defend policies that have been adopted by the administration.

He said his job as chairman involves raising money, tracking campaign finances, helping organize the campaign's state organizations and working with Republican members of Congress and governors.

He said he never expected to head the RNC or direct a presidential campaign, but those were more personal than political choices related to his long-standing friendship with Bush.

''I did it because I care about the country and I care deeply about him as a friend and as a leader," Racicot said. ''It's important that I do what I can to be helpful."

He has no second thoughts about removing his name from consideration as Bush's attorney general more than three years ago after leaving the governor's office. That job would have required the kind of ''inflexible dedication of every moment" that had consumed his life for the previous eight years as governor, he said.

After the 2004 election, Racicot said he intends to return to the full-time practice of law in Washington at least for as long as Bush is president. But he plans to return someday to Montana.

''The pace and way of life here is what I want," he said.

Racicot, whose original ventures into politics were judicial races, said he no longer has a desire to be a judge because jurists are too isolated from the community and unable to be advocates.

Beyond that, he said he has no interest in any elected or appointed office.

''I just can't imagine a circumstance where I would," he said. ''I think I'm fine without running for office. It was wonderful, but I think it was enough for me."

Then he added, ''I would never say never."