US: The Bush re-election campaign has got off to a controversial start with criticism of TV advertisements showing a flag-draped body being carried from the ruins of the World Trade Centre.
As the ads began running in 17 key battleground states and on cable television nationwide last night, relatives of 9/11 victims expressed outrage at the use of emotional images of the tragedy for political purposes.
A voice-over on the campaign commercial says: "A day of tragedy. A test for all Americans. Today, America is turning the corner. Rising to the challenge. Safer, stronger. President Bush. Steady leadership in times of change."
The ads play to Mr Bush's strength of leadership in crisis and are positive in tone, showing that the President is taking the high road for now.
Analysts say the ads seek to recreate the image of the President in the days after 9/11 and before Iraq, when he was supported even by many Democrats.
But several family members of victims accused President Bush of exploiting the tragedy.
Ms Monica Gabrielle, whose husband was killed, told the New York Daily News, "It's a slap in the face of the murders of 3,000 people; it is unconscionable."
Another relative, Ms Mindy Kleinberg, described as "heinous" the sight of remains being removed, especially as Mr Bush had not co-operated fully with the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks.
"It's as sick as people who stole things out of the place," said firefighter Mr Tommy Fee in Rescue Squad 270 in Queens. "The image of firefighters at Ground Zero should not be used for this stuff, for politics."
However, Ms Jennie Farrell, who lost her brother, said the ads spoke of the truth of the times and praised the President for leading the country "through one of the darkest moments in history".
The Bush-Cheney campaign manager, Mr Ken Mehlman, said: "9/11 was the defining moment of these times. Because of that day, America is at war and still is."
Bush campaign adviser Ms Karen Hughes told CNN: "Obviously, all of us mourn and grieve for the victims of that terrible day, but September 11th fundamentally changed our public policy in many important ways, and I think it's vital that the next president recognise that."
The campaign to re-elect Mr Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney has more than $100 million in campaign funds and is spending $4.5 million on the first ad blitz, which includes versions in Spanish.
After Sen John Kerry's emergence as the Democratic Party's certain nominee on Tuesday, President Bush has begun to refer to his opponent by name. In a campaign appearance in California, Mr Bush said mockingly of the Massachusetts senator: "He spent two decades in Congress. He's built up quite a record. In fact, Sen Kerry has been in Washington long enough to take both sides on just about every issue."
Yesterday Mr Bush was in Silicon Valley to raise more funds for his re-election war chest, which currently stands at $153 million. Earlier, at the Bel Air home of Mr A. Jerrold Perenchio, the head of the Spanish-language media giant Univision, he raised a further $3.5 million at a dinner of 150 select guests, including Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The election of Mr Schwarzenegger has given Republicans hope that they can win California's 55 electoral votes in November, despite its Democratic majority.
"We'll leave no doubt where we stand and we will win on November 2nd," Mr Bush told a rally at the Shrine Auditorium, where supporters contributed a further $800,000.
In speeches in California Mr Bush accused Mr Kerry of wanting to expand the federal government and raise taxes, and of opposing the idea of giving Americans more authority, more choices, and more control over their own lives. "It's the same old Washington mind-set," he said. "They'll give the orders, and you will pay the bills."
Mr Kerry, who tomorrow will begin a campaign sweep through Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Florida, where primaries take place on Tuesday, raised a record $1.2 million over the Internet in less than 24 hours on Wednesday, though he is far behind Mr Bush.
The Kerry campaign said recently it had $2.1 million cash on hand as of February 1st, with debts of $7.2 million. Bush's campaign committee reported cash on hand of $104 million on the same date with no debt.
The Democratic National Committee is permitted to spend $16.25 million in co-ordination with the Kerry campaign. The Democratic candidate, meanwhile, hopes to get access to the donor lists of his defeated rivals. They will appear together at a major fundraiser on March 25th.
Mr Kerry will also find California a major source of funding, with celebrities like Barbara Streisand and supermarket tycoon Ron Burkle planning to host fund-raising events.
The MoveOn.org Voter Fund and the George Soros-financed Media Fund, both anti-Bush groups which are not restricted by the $2,000 limit on individual donations to candidates, are helping Mr Kerry compete with the Bush advertising campaign.
Such surrogate groups, which are also helping Mr Bush, have to ensure they do not actively co-ordinate their ads with the campaign as this would be a breach of electoral law.
Without mentioning Mr Kerry, MoveOn.org has begun broadcasting ads showing an unemployed man saying, "Two million jobs lost, jobs gone overseas, no overtime... George Bush is not on our side." The Media Fund, financed in part by billionaire Mr Soros, is expected to begin airing commercials in the next several days.
Mr Kerry will be at a further financial disadvantage in the coming months as both candidates are limited to spending $74.5 million each after their formal party nominations. As the Democratic Party Convention comes in July, five weeks before the Republican convention, he will have to make this last longer.
Some backers of the President are urging a negative campaign against Mr Kerry to define him as a liberal. Political consultant Mr Dick Morris said that if the Bush campaign ads and surrogates "savage Kerry" while the President raised the profile of the war on terror and brought the troops home, the President would coast to victory in November.