SPRING GREEN, United States (AFP) - President George W. Bush sharpened his jabs against Democratic challenger John Kerry, who called for an end to the nasty advertising war that he said was scaring off voters three days before the rivals` first televised debate.
A new poll showed Bush had maintained a slightly smaller lead over Kerry compared to 10 days ago, with the president eight percentage points ahead of the Massachusetts senator among likely voters.
The USA Today/CNN/Gallup survey gave Bush 52 percent, against 44 for Kerry.
Campaigning in the crucial battleground state of Ohio, Bush mocked his rival as fickle on national security issues like the war to oust Saddam Hussein, saying Kerry shifts so much on Iraq he "could spend 90 minutes debating himself."
"Later this week I`ll get the chance of debating my opponent. It`s a little tough to prepare because he keeps changing positions on the war on terror," Bush told supporters at the Midwest Livestock and Expo Center in Springfield, Ohio.
"He said it was the right decision to go into Iraq. Now he calls it the wrong war," the president said.
"You cannot lead when people do not know where you stand," said the president, who has cast the November 2 election as a choice between what he touts as his steady leadership and Kerry`s supposed flip-flops.
Meanwhile, Kerry said nasty television advertisements filling the airwaves were scaring off voters.
"Americans need a real conversation over our future," Kerry said in a speech at a school in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
"What they don`t need is all these trumped up advertisements, they just make people curl up and walk away," added the Massachusetts senator.
"I`m calling them `misleadisments,`" Kerry said of the adverts. "It`s all scare tactics ... because (Bush) has no record to run on."
The Democrats have complained bitterly about a new advertisement that shows Osama bin Laden, September 11 hijack leader Mohamed Atta, Saddam Hussein and the ruins of the World Trade Center, and questioned whether Kerry was up to dealing with them.
A statement called the spot, run by the Republican group Progress for America Voter Fund, the latest in a series of "desperate and despicable attack ads" aimed at diverting attention from Bush`s record.
The Democrats rolled out a new ad of their own, titled "Despicable," in which they accused the administration of "playing politics with terror" and dividing the country in a bid to hold onto the White House.
Kerry also responded to Bush`s charge of wavering on Iraq by insisting the deteriorating situation did not lend itself to light-hearted jokes.
"When US soldiers are in harm`s way, the American people don`t want jokes and fantasy spin from their president, they want to hear the truth," the Democratic candidate said in a statement.
"But George Bush refuses to confront reality and admit that he recklessly rushed to war, that his wrong choices have left Iraq in chaos and that he has no plan to win the peace."
The Massachusetts senator said it was time for Bush to "confront the hard truths" that US soldiers face every day in Iraq.
The exchanges heralded a potentially bruising debate when Bush and Kerry meet Thursday at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida to hash out foreign policy and homeland security issues before tens of millions of television viewers.
The candidates will clash October 8 in a "town hall" meeting in the midwestern city of St, Louis, Missouri, and go over domestic and economic issues on October 13 in the western city of Tempe, Arizona.
But the first presidential debate has most often drawn the greatest attention and had the most impact. The foreign policy format was first thought to give an edge to Bush but Kerry has come out swinging on Iraq and terrorism in recent weeks.