WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As President Bush campaigns Monday in Pensacola for Florida's Republican gubernatorial candidate, the candidate himself won't be there -- the latest sign of an election season marked largely by the president's unpopularity.

Charlie Crist, seeking to replace Bush's brother Jeb Bush as governor, will be off seeking votes from moderates and independents in areas where Bush is more unpopular. Crist has said his plans to miss the event are not a statement about the president, just an effort to reach more voters.

Many Republican candidates have worked to distance themselves from the president this election season.

Bush also has trips Monday to Arkansas and Texas to deliver stump speeches. While he is expected to tout the verdict against Saddam Hussein in Iraq as a success of his administration and its Republican supporters, the public sentiment against the war also makes any focus on events in Iraq a potential liability.