- The race for the White House entered its last frenetic
stage yesterday with the two candidates neck-and-neck in polls after a
third consecutive victory for Senator John Kerry in the presidential debates.
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- Less than two weeks after he was close to political oblivion,
Kerry aides believe he now has momentum on his side. Capitalising on his
debate performances, they are convinced he can drive home his attacks to
defeat President George W Bush after just one term.
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- But while Mr Bush's supporters have been startled by
his rival's comeback, they are far from defeatist. They are gearing up
for a renewed assault on Mr Kerry's record and believe they can win over
key swing voters by painting him as too Left-wing to lead a conservative
nation.
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- In an indication of the acrimony ahead, Mr Bush was quoted
yesterday as having told a private lunch of supporters: "'I'm going
to be real positive while I keep my foot on John Kerry's throat."
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- Snap opinion polls yesterday crowned Mr Kerry as the
winner in Wednesday night's debate in Arizona by between one and 14 points.
As Mr Bush has fretted his way through the three debates, his rival has
punctured the previously inviolate presidential carapace while never losing
his cool.
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- But as with all the polls in this feverish period, yesterday's
had a mixed message. Many undecided voters who declared Mr Kerry the winner
said they were still tilting towards Mr Bush, in an apparent reminder of
the power of his personality, his aura as commander-in-chief, and his ability
to appeal to core heartland values.
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- Clearly relieved to have the debates behind him, Mr Bush
flew yesterday to Nevada, one of the 10 "battleground" states.
"Now it is the sprint to the finish," he said. "The pundits
and the spinners have their opinion. There is only one opinion that matters
and that is the opinion of the American people." Wednesday night's
debate was on domestic policy. The candidates engaged in ferocious attacks
on each other, with Mr Kerry accusing Mr Bush of failing the nation on
health care and the economy, and facing a savaging of his own record in
the Senate.
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- Mr Bush all but ignored a question about employment and
instead painted his rival as too liberal - a term of abuse in much of America
- to lead.
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- "There's a mainstream in American politics and you
sit on the far Left bank," he said.
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- Mr Kerry highlighted Mr Bush's record of a net loss of
jobs and also belaboured him for presiding over a colossal rise in spending.
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- With an eye on the suburban women who are deemed the
key floating voters, Mr Kerry by and large eschewed personal attacks. Mr
Bush's aggressive tones in the first debate are thought to have alienated
this key constituency.
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- But the Democrat did make a foray into controversial
territory, which may cost him votes. After Mr Bush havered over whether
homosexuality was a "choice", Mr Kerry cited Vice-President Dick
Cheney's lesbian daughter as a riposte.
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- "If you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter,
who is lesbian, she would tell you that she is being who she was born as,"
he said Mr Cheney's wife, Lynne, made a furious response, saying: "Speaking
as a mum, and a pretty indignant mum, this is not a good man. What a cheap
and tawdry political trick."
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