WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Democrats opened a new front in their battle for the White House, attacking Vice President Dick Cheney and his old company Halliburton for alleged "cronyism" that reaped billions of dollars of business in Iraq.
The offensive comes with polls split on the direction of the race. Two surveys published Thursday showed Democrat John Kerry pulling even with President George W. Bush while a third gave the Republican a healthy 13-point margin.
A statement by Kerry and a new television spot sought to make Halliburton a fresh test of Bush's credibility, management and priorities 46 days before the November 2 vote.
Kerry said Cheney, who was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, received nearly two million dollars from the company since becoming vice president despite his contention he severed all financial ties.
Halliburton, an oil services firm, has won billions of dollars in contracts to feed, house and take care of troops in Iraq, but has been accused of accounting problems and overcharging.
"It is clear: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have mismanaged every aspect of the war in Iraq," Kerry said, accusing the two men of turning a blind eye to price gouging in Iraq by "their big money friends."
"We need a president and a vice president who wont sacrifice the taxpayers money on the altar of no-bid cronyism while our fighting men and women go without the armor and equipment they need," said the Massachusetts senator.
Kerry said that as president he would reform the contracting process, reversing the trend toward no-bid deals and ensuring fair competition. He would also overhaul the accounting process to crack down on profiteers.
The new television ad shows Cheney saying "I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and havent had now for over three years," and alleges he has since received two million dollars from the company.
There was no immediate response from the Bush-Cheney campaign to the allegations by Kerry, who has tried to sharpen his attacks on the Republican incumbents on Iraq, the economy and overall trustworthiness.
Cheney, who was once seen as a liability for Bush, has come back in the polls recently. A survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center showed he had pulled to within two points of his Democratic counterpart John Edwards.
The Republicans, meanwhile, focused on economic issues Friday, releasing a new television advertisement and a radio spot that accuses Kerry of promoting a "liberal" agenda of damaging tax hikes.
Kerry was campaigning in the western states of New Mexico and Colorado and Bush was heading toward the southern state of North Carolina in the final stretch of a marathon race clouded by contradictory poll results.
Surveys released Thursday by the Pew Research Center and Harris Interactive had Kerry wiping out a solid lead Bush forged with a month of attacks on his Democratic rival capped by the Republican national convention.
The Pew data showed the Massachusetts senator clawing his way back from a 12-point deficit among registered voters interviewed between September 8 and 10 to a 46-46 percent tie four days later.
A Harris poll of likely voters published in The Wall Street Journal had Kerry up 48-47 percent.
But a Gallup poll taken September 13-15 puts Bush ahead by 55 to 42 percent among likely voters. Gallup said it was a "significant improvement" for Bush since just before the convention he was ahead by only 50-47.