US: Following his acceptance speech at the Republican convention in New York last night, US President George Bush travelled to Pennsylvania today and his rival John Kerry to Ohio, as both sides set out on the final 60-day phase of a presidential campaign unprecedented in its intensity, writes Conor O'Clery in New York.
Winding up a four-day convention that focused almost entirely on the war on terror, Mr Bush promised last night to fight terrorists "not for pride, not for power" but to keep America safe.
"I believe this nation wants wants steady, consistent, principled leadership," Mr Bush said, according to an advance text of his late-evening convention address in which he resurrected his 2000 promise of "compassionate conservatism".
The floor arrangements at Madison Square Garden were ripped out and replaced with a circular stage in the centre for Mr Bush's address, in which he depicted himself as a resolute wartime commander in chief.
"I am running for president with a clear and positive plan to build a safer world, and a more hopeful America," he said. "I am running with a compassionate conservative philosophy: that government should help people improve their lives, not try to run their lives. I believe this nation wants steady, consistent, principled leadership - and that is why, with your help, we will win this election." He promised to stay on the offensive against terrorists, saying: "We have fought the terrorists across the earth - not for pride, not for power, but because the lives of our citizens are at stake.
"Our strategy is clear. We have tripled funding for homeland security and trained half a million first responders, because we are determined to protect our homeland.
"We are staying on the offensive - striking terrorists abroad - so we do not have to face them here at home. And we are working to advance liberty in the broader Middle East, because freedom will bring a future of hope, and the peace we all want. And we will prevail." Outlining his domestic agenda Mr Bush said, "Many of our most fundamental systems - the tax code, health coverage, pension plans, worker training - were created for the world of yesterday, not tomorrow."
Yesterday Senator Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, made the round of morning talk shows to respond to what he called "over the top" Republican attacks on the Democratic candidate from Mr Cheney and Georgia Senator Zell Miller on Wednesday evening. "What we heard from the Republicans in that hall last night was an enormous amount of anger," he told CBS. "It would be nice for them to have a little more anger about the five million people who have lost their health care coverage while President Bush has been in office."
The Democratic campaign plans to blanket seven battleground states with campaign advertisements next week in which Kerry pledges to "stand up for the middle class" and suggests that Mr Bush "sides with the special interests." The death toll among US troops in Iraq, the discrediting of the reasons for going to war and record budget deficits have cut into the president's approval ratings and so far he has not got a bounce from the convention.
An American Research Group poll conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday shows the US presidential race remains tied at 48 per cent each while registered voters favoured Kerry by 48 to 46 percent.
Vice President Dick Cheney continued yesterday to contrast Mr Bush with his opponent, following his acceptance speech on Wednesday in which he attacked Mr Kerry's record in the US Senate. "He doesn't waffle," he said of Mr Bush at a breakfast for Ohio delegates. "That's exactly what we need in a president. We don't need indecision or confusion."