US: Senator John Kerry wore a Red Sox baseball cap as he arrived at a rally in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday morning and recalled someone phoning a radio show early in the campaign and saying: "John Kerry won't be president until the Red Sox win the World Series."
The previous evening the Boston team had won their first World Series title since 1819, when they beat the St Louis Cardinals.
"Well," exclaimed Kerry to tumultuous cheers, "we're on our way! We're on our way!" Boston pitcher Curt Schilling didn't share the Democratic candidate's confidence, telling ABC television "Vote Bush next week", but the victory of the Boston Red Sox, deemed to be cursed for selling Babe Ruth in 1920, is being taken as a good omen by the Kerry camp.
Senator Kerry launched new attacks on Mr Bush yesterday for citing President John F Kennedy as an example of the type of strong leadership Mr Kerry could not match.
"Now, can you imagine President Kennedy in the wake of the Bay of Pigs standing up and not telling the American people of a single mistake he had made and that he would do everything over again in exactly the same way?" he asked.
"When the Bay of Pigs went sour," Mr Kerry continued, referring to the failed invasion of Cuba in 1961, "Kennedy looked the American people in the eye and said 'I take responsibility, it's my fault', and, Mr President, it's long since time for you to start taking responsibility for the mistakes you made."
President George Bush launched another stinging attack on his rival at a rally in Saginaw, Michigan.
"A president cannot blow in the wind," he said. "Senator Kerry has taken a lot of different positions, but he's rarely taken a stand." He is "the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time".
President Bush flew to rallies in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania yesterday, reversing his itinerary of the previous day. Mr Kerry swung through the mid-west yesterday, and tomorrow plans to visit Florida to shore up support.
In Madison, Wisconsin, a vast crowd estimated at 60,000 turned out for a rally by Senator Kerry and rock singer Bruce Springsteen. The Democrat continued to turn the issue of missing explosives in Iraq into a major focus of his campaign, as it has distracted from Mr Bush's appeal to democratic voters.
"The missing explosives could very likely be in the hands of terrorists and insurgents, who are actually attacking our forces now 80 times a day on average," he said. Mr Bush retorted that "If you stir up trouble...Senator Kerry will back off", and this was a dangerous signal to send to their enemies.
"A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander-in-chief," he said. Mr Kerry came back with the jibe, "Mr President, I agree with you," and listed the times he said the president had done that.
Mr Kerry also accused the Bush camp of an "excuse campaign", in response to a comment by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani that soldiers were responsible for finding the explosives, not Mr Bush.
New polls yesterday showed that the race for the three key battleground states will be fought to the bitter end.
A Los Angeles Times poll showed Mr Bush ahead by eight points among likely voters in Florida, Senator Kerry in front by six points in Ohio and Kerry leading by two points on Pennsylvania.
However a Quinnipiac poll gave Mr Bush only a three-point lead in Florida. The winner of two of these states, which account for 68 electoral votes, is expected to have a clear advantage in the race for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Bush and Kerry had exchanged leads in polling in Florida and Ohio, indicating either the unreliability of the polls - a common assumption among analysts - or a fluctuating electorate which will not finally decide how to vote until Tuesday.
The polling reflects economic realities: Florida has gained 290,000 jobs since Mr Bush took office, Pennsylvania has lost 70,000 jobs and Ohio 232,000. The three states are pivotal because most other states are leaning so firmly to one side or the other that the outcome is not really in doubt.
If Senator Kerry loses two of the three he would have difficulty reaching 270 electoral votes.
The uncertainty has driven the candidates to shore up support in other swing states. Mr Bush could mathematically win even if he lost two of the three by "stealing" New Mexico, Iowa and either Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan from the Democrats.
Even Hawaii, with a mere four votes, has come into play as polls show a dead heat in the normally safe Democratic state.
With the presidential outcome expected to be very close, concern is growing about voter registration fraud.
New federal rules were issued requiring states to draw up accurate and current registration lists with a computerised statewide registration list that would be instantly updated with each new registration.
However 37 states have not complied, according to Ms Rebecca Vigil-Giron, secretary of state in New Mexico and president of the association that represents other secretaries of state.
In some cases fraud has been rampant, with forged signatures and alleged destruction of registrations gathered under false pretences.
In Ohio, the Republican Party is challenging some 25,000 new registrations.