MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, Oct 15 (AFP) - Democrat John Kerry, sharpening his populist tone as he chased votes Friday in the US heartland, accused President George W. Bush of bleeding middle-class Americans while lining the pockets of the rich.
"In the end, George Bush and I just have fundamentally different approaches to jobs and the economy," Kerry said in a speech in this electorally crucial midwestern state.
"He thinks that we should give more to the most and, eventually, a little something will filter down to the middle class," the Massachusetts senator said. "He judges the success of our economy by the success of those at the top. I disagree."
Kerry, pressing home a line of attack he has also used on Iraq, painted Bush as indifferent to the struggles of American families which he said often couldn't meet basic expenses, even with two salaries coming in.
"The problem is, this president just doesn't understand what has happened, or he understands and he doesn't care."
Both Kerry and Bush were scouting votes in Wisconsin and Iowa, which went Democratic barely in 2000 but were two of the most closely watched "battlegrounds" this year ahead of November 2 election.
While most polls showed the White House race virtually deadlocked, a new survey released by Zogby International on Friday showed Bush opening a 48-44 percent edge among likely voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 percent.
Fifty-five percent had a favorable view of Bush, up three points since Thursday, while 43 percent had a negative opinion, Zogby said. Kerry's favorability rating was stable at 53 percent, while 45 percent were down on him.
Flushed with success in his televised debates with Bush that pulled him even in the race and bolstered his national security credentials, Kerry trained his sights on the economy, considered most important to swing voters.
He kicked off a day-long bus trip through Wisconsin, accompanied by members of the US women's Olympic soccer team, to pummel Bush as an out-of-touch leader who has championed the "powerful and well-connected" over middle-class families.
Kerry lashed out at tax cuts he said favored the rich and at the net loss of US jobs under Bush. He said the administration had done nothing to raise the minimum wage and failed to bring down health care and energy costs.
Kerry was later heading off to Ohio, another critical midwestern state. Bush was stumping in Iowa and Wisconsin and was to travel Saturday to the southeastern state of Florida, which was pivotal four years ago.
On another front, the Democratic campaign asked a large broadcasting chain for equal time to respond to a documentary highly critical of Kerry that it planned to air just before the election.
The Democrats have already complained to the Federal Election Commission and Federal Communications Commission about the 90-minute documentary the Sinclair Broadcasting Group plans to carry on up to 62 stations.
The program harshly criticizes Kerry's appearance before Congress in 1971, when he returned from Vietnam and vehemently denounced the war. The Democrats say the broadcast amounts to an illegal campaign advertisement for Bush.
Marc Elias, general consul for the Kerry campaign, said in a letter to Sinclair that at the very least, the broadcast chain was obliged to provide equal time to respond to the documentary.
"Please consider this a request that each Sinclair station that airs the documentary provide supporters of the Kerry-Edwards campaign with a similar amount of time on that station before the election at a time where an audience of similar size can be expected," he wrote.