ORLANDO, Fla. – President Bush and Sen. John Kerry delivered impassioned appeals Friday to the dwindling legion of undecided voters, with Bush stressing the resoluteness he says carried the country through tumultuous times, and with Kerry arguing that Americans should “wake up” and choose a fresh start.
With tensions rising and polls tight, the two candidates rushed through key battlegrounds east of the Mississippi, setting aside their dispute over missing weapons in Iraq to offer more philosophical arguments for their election.
“I would like to give you as plainly as I can a summary of my case on how, together, we can change America – and I believe we begin by moving our economy, our government and our society back in line with our best values,” Kerry said at a morning rally at a civic center here. “We have the opportunity to make sure the American dream touches every heart.”
Campaigning in Manchester, N.H. – in a state that helped propel Kerry to the Democratic nomination 10 months ago – Bush made a pitch that was also emotional and less ideological than some recent speeches. “The issues vary. The challenges are different every day. The polls go up. The polls go down. But a president’s convictions must be consistent and true,” said Bush, surrounded by relatives of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001. “There is,” he added, “hope beyond the ashes of September the 11th, and nobody can take that away from us.”
Both candidates tweaked their speeches, schedules and electoral strategies for the final weekend of a close, expensive and negative campaign. With polls in nearly a dozen battleground states showing races too close to call and likely to hinge on voter turnout, the two candidates planned three days of crossing paths and swords in Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida, Michigan and Ohio. They also launched long-shot bids for states once considered uncompetitive. Vice President Cheney was dispatched to Hawaii, a Democratic stronghold, and former President Clinton to Republican-leaning Arkansas, though neither side expects an upset in either state.
There are no clear indications of which way the election is breaking, strategists from both parties say. National polls show a tie, though Bush does not top 50 percent in most surveys, which historically spells trouble for the incumbent. Kerry has remained frozen below 50 percent and trails Bush when it comes to whom voters trust on terrorism, Iraq, and providing strong and steady leadership.
“No one can afford to stand on the sidelines or sit this one out,” Kerry said in Orlando. To stir excitement among voters, Bush took California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to a rally in Ohio, and rocker Bruce Springsteen headlined a late-evening event for Kerry in Miami.
The president campaigned against a headwind of untimely news: the controversy over missing weapons, a doctored campaign ad, reports of longer stays in Iraq for U.S. troops, and an impending request for $70 billion more to fund the operation there. Yet it’s not clear Kerry is benefiting, strategists from both parties say.
Bush and Kerry left it to the vice presidential candidates to fight it out over the missing weapons in Iraq. Cheney, campaigning in Dimondale, Mich., seized on comments by an Army commander that his unit removed 250 tons of ammunition from the Qaqaa weapons depot in April 2003 and destroyed it. Cheney said this proves Kerry has been twisting the truth over the past week by accusing Bush of failing to secure explosives. “These brave men and women deserve better than to have their actions called into question by a politician so ambitious he will say or do anything without waiting for the facts,” Cheney said.
But a growing amount of evidence this week has suggested that, despite administration statements, at least some of the material was taken after Baghdad fell in April 2003. Kerry said that looting was an example of administration incompetence.
Bush reverted to attack mode at his later events, criticizing Kerry by name 11 times in Portsmouth, N.H., and nine times in Toledo, Ohio. Firing back for Kerry’s wake-up call, Bush said: “Well, the American people are awake. Their eyes are wide open. They are seeing more clearly every day the critical choices in this election.”
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