US election 'too close to call'
2004-10-13 13:16
Tempe - President George W Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry go head-to-head for the final time in their knife-edge election battle on Wednesday, with their final televised debate.
Each man hopes to use their last chance to captivate a national audience of tens of millions of viewers, to break the deadlock in the election race, which most opinion polls suggest is too close to call three weeks from polling day.
Democrats expect Bush to try to wrest the focus of the debate from the solely domestic issues it is supposed to address, seen as advantageous for Kerry, to his stronger territory of national security and terrorism.
Bush, who roadtested some of his debate strategy in a pair of rallies on Tuesday, is expected to paint Kerry as an extreme liberal, with a 20-year Senate record pitted with inconsistencies.
Most liberal senator
"He's been the most liberal member of the United States Senate, which means he likes to spend your money," said Bush at a rally in Arizona, using a line of attack he is certain to deploy in the debate.
But Kerry's aides say their man is ready, after he won the first debate in Miami, Florida, and got at least a draw in the second faceoff last week in St Louis, Missouri.
The veteran Massachusetts senator will charge in the debate at Arizona State University that Bush is as stubborn and wrongheaded on the economy, health issues, and energy as the Kerry team says he has been on Iraq.
One of the most intriguing factors in the debate will be whether Kerry mentions his friend and Superman actor Christopher Reeve who died on Sunday, aged 52.
Kerry has said Reeve left a message on his cellphone after the debate last Friday, thanking him from bringing up the issue of embryonic stem-cell research, which the actor had hoped could one day lead to a cure for his spinal paralysis.
Will he mention Christopher Reeve?
If he does mention Reeve, Kerry will have to tread carefully to ensure that he is not seen to be exploiting the actor's death for naked political reasons.
Kerry decided to stay an extra night in the city, partly so he could watch on television as his Boston Red Sox baseball team took on their hated rival New York Yankees in a key postseason game.
The president, who has seen a federal budget surplus of $236bn in 2000 turn into an estimated deficit of $422bn on his watch, claimed Kerry could not be trusted to steer the United States economy.
Kerry's aides have accused Bush and Cheney of twisting Kerry's remarks out of context, and see the attacks as evidence their opponents are rattled.
A CBS News poll released on Tuesday gave Bush 48% of voter intentions and his Massachusetts senator rival 45% a statistical dead heat because of the margin of error.