- DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
- President Bush turned the tables Saturday on Sen. John Kerry, declaring
"the best way to avoid the draft is to vote for me," and pledged
to oppose mandatory military service. The Democrat stuck to domestic issues,
blaming Bush for a shortage of flu vaccines.
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- Kerry also opposes a draft and has suggested that re-electing
Bush would greatly increase the prospects for one. The president, fearing
that young voters will be swayed by the charge, fired back, "The person
talking about a draft is my opponent."
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- With new polls showing the race tied or Bush slightly
ahead, both candidates found new ways to go negative while rallying supporters
in the campaign's two most crucial states. The incumbent was in Florida,
his challenger in Ohio.
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- Kerry accused Bush of missing signs that a flu vaccine
shortage was imminent. The attack fit into a broader campaign theme "
that on Iraq (news - web sites), the economy and many other matters, Bush
is disconnected from problems facing Americans.
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- "What's happening with the flu vaccine is really
an example of everything this administration does " deny it, pretend
it's not there, and then try to hide it when it comes out and act surprised,"
Kerry said.
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- Campaigning in an area heavily dependent on the military,
Bush said, "We will not have an all-volunteer army" before correcting
himself. "Let me restate that," he continued. "We will not
have a draft ... . The best way to avoid a draft is to vote for me."
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- Polls show that a majority of young voters believe Bush
would reinstitute the draft, despite the president's denials.
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- Bush and Kerry tailored their appeals. The Democrat,
a Catholic, went to Mass and picked up a hunting license " a pitch
to Ohio's socially conservative Democrats motivated by values and gun rights.
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- Bush appealed to Florida's large Jewish population by
signing a bill requiring the State Department to document attacks on Jews
around the world. The department had opposed the measure, calling it unnecessary.
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- Upbeat backdrops - Bush appeared in rock-star fashion
at a sports arena in Florida and Kerry greeted well-wishers on the porch
of a farm in Ohio - contrasted with the sharply critical messages they
conveyed to supporters.
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- Amid strobe lights and swirling smoke, Bush's campaign
bus drove into a darkened sports arena in Sunrise, Fla., depositing the
president on stage with red-white-and-blue lights flickering across a crowd
of 10,000 supporters. He noted that a year ago Sunday his opponent voted
against an $87 billion bill for military reconstruction efforts in Iraq
and Afghanistan (news - web sites).
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- "Senator Kerry apparently decided supporting the
troops even while they were in harm's way was not as important as shoring
up his own political position," Bush said.
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- Kerry, a four-term senator from Massachusetts, voted
against the bill to protest Bush's policies on Iraq during the Democratic
nomination fight. Kerry was trying to overtake anti-war candidate Howard
Dean.
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- To a chorus of anti-Kerry boos, Bush accused his rival
of playing politics with war: "At a time of great threat to our country,
at a time of great challenge to the world, the commander in chief must
stand on principle, not the shifting sands of political convenience."
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- Seeking political gain from the vaccine shortage, Kerry's
campaign released a television ad that says Bush "failed to fix the
problem."
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- "Millions of Americans won't get their flu shots,
including seniors and children," Kerry said while also blasting Bush
on joblessness. "We've got people standing in line for hours on end,
some of them in their 70s and 80s, hoping to be among the lucky ones to
get it."
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- A Bush spokesman accused Kerry of hypocrisy for criticizing
the president after voting against a measure that would protect vaccine
manufacturers from punitive damages.
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- Kerry hopes the issue cuts against Bush among women and
the elderly, especially in Florida, where running mate John Edwards (news
- web sites) campaigned Saturday. Kerry himself was due in the state Sunday
and Monday.
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- Bush narrowly won Florida after a disputed recount. He
won Ohio with relative ease, but the state has lost 237,000 jobs since
he took office.
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- Introducing Kerry in Xenia, Ohio, laid-off worker Mike
Adams pulled his empty pockets out of his jeans and angrily challenged
assertions that Bush's tax cuts have benefited the middle class. "I'd
like him to tell me where that money is now," Adams said.
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- Both campaigns are marshaling armies of lawyers to prepare
for the prospect of legal challenges in Florida, Ohio and several other
states Election Day. Tom Josefiak, the Bush campaign's top lawyer, said
Saturday "it may takes days or weeks" after Nov. 2 to determine
the winner. _____
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- Associated Press Political Writer Ron Fournier reported
from Washington. AP Writer Nedra Pickler contributed to this story.
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