Battleground appeals

DAYTON, Ohio – Sen. John Kerry and President Bush began a final, two-day blitz through the most competitive battlegrounds Sunday, with Kerry wooing his base at a black church, preaching a gospel of economic hardship and hope, and the president crisscrossing Florida, questioning his challenger’s credentials to keep the nation safe from terrorists.

Kerry said that if elected he would undertake an unprecedented “flurry of activity” to protect national security that would include quick Cabinet appointments. “I’m going to make America safer, and I have some very strong and real steps to take quite immediately to make that happen,” Kerry said.

Bush emphasized a similar theme. “If you believe America should fight the war on terror with all her might and lead with unwavering confidence,” the president said, “I ask you, come stand by me.

“If you are a Democrat who believes your party has turned too far left in this year, I ask you, come stand with me,” Bush said.

State polls offered few clues as to the outcome, with Ohio and Florida still the most significant and hotly contested states. Strategists on both sides expressed optimism Sunday about their candidate’s chances of winning Florida and said Ohio remains too close to call.

Kerry, in Ohio, New Hampshire and Florida, looked to make his case with domestic issues in the homestretch. Polls show voters see issues such as the economy and health care as the Democrat’s strength.

Kerry never mentioned his opponent by name in short remarks from the pulpit at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Dayton, but the references were unmistakable, as he quoted scriptures and recited “Amazing Grace.” He spoke of diminished after-school care, expensive health care and job losses.

“There is a standard by which we have to live,” Kerry said. “Coming to church on Sundays and talking about faith and professing faith isn’t the whole deal. … I hear politicians talk about values but I don’t see them.”

Bush also moved to secure his base and stuck to his perceived strength, national security. Speaking to a rally filled with Cuban-Americans in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, Bush said Kerry “entered the flip-flop hall of fame” for his assertion that he had voted for, then against, an $87 billion package to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier, Bush, attended Mass at the Church of Epiphany, the home church of his younger brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

Vice President Dick Cheney accused Kerry of turning his back on the troops because of his political ambition. Kerry “is not a steadfast leader. Our president is,” Cheney told several hundred Republican supporters in Toledo, Ohio at an airplane hangar. He later referred to Kerry as “a wanna-be commander in chief.”

Running mate Sen. John Edwards sought to drive up Democratic turnout Sunday during stops in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa. He too started the day in a black church, in Jacksonville, Fla., where he argued that his ticket is more in touch with everyday Americans. “They don’t hear the voices of the people we grew up with,” Edwards told a congregation of about 200 at Greater Grant AME Church. “John Kerry and I hear your voice. We’re going to fight for you every day.”

Today, President Bush plans to be in Wilmington, Ohio; Burgettstown, Pa.; Milwaukee; Des Moines and Sioux City, Iowa; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Dallas; spending the night at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Kerry plans to be in Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland, spending the night in La Crosse, Wis.

Presidential polls

* CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released Sunday of 1,573 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (down from 51 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 47 percent (up from 46 percent)

Other/Unsure: 4 percent (down from 5 percent)

* NBC-Wall Street Journal poll conducted Friday through Sunday of 1,014 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 48 percent (unchanged from previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 47 percent (down from 48 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 4 percent (up from 3 percent)

* ABC News poll of 2,615 likely voters conducted Wednesday through Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (down from 50 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 48 percent (up from 47 percent)

Nader-Camejo: Less than 1 percent

Unsure: 3 percent (unchanged)

* CBS-New York Times poll of 643 likely voters conducted Thursday through Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (up from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 46 percent (up from 45 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (down from 2 percent)

Unsure: 4 percent (down from 6 percent)

* Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of 1,200 likely voters conducted Friday and Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush: 46 percent (down from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry: 46 percent (up from 45 percent)

Nader: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 7 percent (unchanged)

* Pew Research Center poll of 1,925 likely voters conducted Wednesday through Saturday. The margin of error is 2.5 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 48 percent (up from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 45 percent (down from 47 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 6 percent (up from 5 percent)

Presidential polls

* CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll released Sunday of 1,573 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (down from 51 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 47 percent (up from 46 percent)

Other/Unsure: 4 percent (down from 5 percent)

* NBC-Wall Street Journal poll conducted Friday through Sunday of 1,014 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 48 percent (unchanged from previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 47 percent (down from 48 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 4 percent (up from 3 percent)

* ABC News poll of 2,615 likely voters conducted Wednesday through Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (down from 50 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 48 percent (up from 47 percent)

Nader-Camejo: Less than 1 percent

Unsure: 3 percent (unchanged)

* CBS-New York Times poll of 643 likely voters conducted Thursday through Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 49 percent (up from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 46 percent (up from 45 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (down from 2 percent)

Unsure: 4 percent (down from 6 percent)

* Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll of 1,200 likely voters conducted Friday and Saturday. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

Bush: 46 percent (down from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry: 46 percent (up from 45 percent)

Nader: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 7 percent (unchanged)

* Pew Research Center poll of 1,925 likely voters conducted Wednesday through Saturday. The margin of error is 2.5 percent.

Bush-Cheney: 48 percent (up from 47 percent in previous poll)

Kerry-Edwards: 45 percent (down from 47 percent)

Nader-Camejo: 1 percent (unchanged)

Unsure: 6 percent (up from 5 percent)