WASHINGTON, Oct 13 (AFP) - Notes from the campaign trail with 20 days to go until the November 2 US presidential election:

Kerry upbraided for church appearances
WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush has frequently been criticized for mixing religion and politics, but now his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, has come under attack for his church-going habits.
The group Americans United for Separation of Church and States has complained to the federal tax authorities that Kerry's appearance at an African-American church in the crucial southeastern state of Florida violated regulations.
Churches and tax-exempt charities are barred from backing political candidates. But Americans United said that Kerry was introduced at the Baptist church as a White House contender and endorsed by leading black Democrats from the pulpit.
"This appears to have been a clear case of a church hosting a partisan political rally," wrote Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, which has been monitoring religion and the government here since 1947.
"I believe the obvious aim of this event was to endorse Kerry's candidacy and spur congregants to vote for him," Lynn said. "As such, the church has run afoul of federal tax law."
The Kerry campaign had no immediate comment. (AFP)

Candidates narrow states targeted by media campaigns
WASHINGTON: Months ago the US presidential candidates targeted more than 20 states as potential "battlegrounds" in the November 2 election. But judging by their television advertising strategies, the list has now been cut in half.
The University of Washington Advertising Project, which tracks political media buys, said that President George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry were focusing their advertising dollars on 10 states in the waning weeks of the campaign.
The group said the 44 of the 50 media markets attracting the most campaign advertising were concentrated in 10 states, led by the southeastern state of Florida that was pivotal in 2000 and the crucial midwestern state of Ohio.
The other states drawing the most advertising between September 24 and October 7, according to the study, were Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Overall, the top 50 markets contained only 27 percent of the US electorate but saw 87 percent of the advertisements run for the presidential campaign, according to the Wisconsin researchers. (AFP)

Debate duty before pleasure for baseball fan Kerry
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: Senator John Kerry might be in the fight for his life for the White House, but few things are more important than his beloved Boston Red Sox baseball team and their blood feud with the New York Yankees.
The Democrat, preparing for his third and final debate with President George W. Bush in the western state of Arizona, stayed an extra night Tuesday in the neighboring state of New Mexico.
Added time to study? Fine-tuning some final arguments on tax policy?
No, his aides conceded. Kerry simply wanted to make sure he would be on the ground to watch the first game of the Red Sox-Yankees playoff series that was opening in New York.
Kerry managed to stay out of the air for Game 1, but for Game 2 he already has an on-air rendezvous with Bush. (AFP)

Edwards has explanation for mystery bulge in Bush suit jacket
WASHINGTON: Democratic Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards has come up with an explanation for a mysterious bulge in President George W. Bush's suit jacket during his first debate with challenger John Kerry. "I think it was his battery," the senator from North Carolina told late night comedian Jay Leno during an appearance on NBC television's "The Tonight Show." Edwards jokingly suggested that Kerry should "pat down" Bush ahead of Wednesday's final debate in Arizona. The Bush campaign has said the rectangular bulge in the back of Bush's jacket was just a wrinkle or a crease in the fabric and dismissed as "ridiculous" Internet speculation the president was wearing a radio receiver linked to an offstage adviser. (AFP)