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Bush, Kerry charge into final two days
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-31 23:32
With the 2004 presidential race still a tossup, US President
Bush and challenger Democrat John Kerry charged into the final two days of
the contest trying to turn to their advantage an October surprise appearance by
America's most hated enemy.
US President Bush
and Democratic Sen. John Kerry are tied at 48 percent with two days
remaining in the race for the White House, according to a Reuters/Zogby
poll released on October 31, 2004. [Reuters] |
"The terrorists who killed thousands of innocent people are still dangerous
and they are determined," Bush told supporters at a campaign rally a day after a
new videotape message from terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden was
broadcast.
On the stump just 25 miles from the president in eastern Wisconsin, Kerry
responded to bin Laden's re-emergence with his months-old criticism of Bush's
post-Sept. 11 tactics in Afghanistan, bin Laden's once and perhaps current home.
"As I have said for two years now, when Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were
cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, it was wrong to outsource the job of
capturing them to Afghan warlords," Kerry said Saturday. "It was wrong to divert
our forces from Afghanistan so we could rush to war with Iraq without a
plan to win the peace."
US President George
W. Bush (R) and First Lady Laura Bush (C) are introduced by the Chair of
the Michigan Republican Party Betsy DeVos (L) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Bush said that the future of the war on terror would be at stake in the US
election. [AFP] |
The men were campaigning Sunday in tightly contested battleground states.
Both had appearances scheduled in Florida and Ohio; Kerry was also speaking in
New Hampshire.
A new poll showed the president moving ahead of Kerry in the popular vote,
and Democrats said their private surveys hinted at momentum for Bush.
White House chief of staff Andrew Card, interviewed Sunday on CNN's "Late
Edition," was confident in predicting a Bush victory.
"We've got over a million volunteers in key battleground states helping the
president get the vote out,." he said. "I really see tremendous momentum for the
president."
On the stump Saturday, the two candidates responded to the bin Laden tape in
ways reflecting their long-held campaign strategies.
US Democratic
Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., holds Catherine Allen, 4,
after Sunday Services outside Holy Angels Church in Dayton, Ohio Sunday,
Oct. 31, 2004. [AP Photo] |
The president — who throughout the campaign has sought to deflect voter
concerns about the war in Iraq, his handling of the economy and his job
performance overall by fueling fears about terrorism — continued that theme.
At his first stop in GOP-leaning western Michigan, he reminded supporters of
the 2001 attacks. "Americans go to the polls at a time of war and ongoing
threats unlike any we have faced before," Bush said.
In response to the videotape, the Bush administration warned state and local
officials that the tape may be intended to promote or signal an attack.
Kerry has tried to tap anti-war sentiment within the ranks of the Democratic
Party while assuring swing voters that he would keep them safe. The decorated
Vietnam War veteran pledged anew to "destroy, capture, kill Osama bin Laden and
all of the terrorists."
With a touch of swagger, Kerry began one sentence by saying, "When I am
president," and pledged to provide "leadership and hope" to U.S. troops seeking
a quick return home from Iraq.
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