PEMBROKE PINES, Florida, Oct 17 (AFP) - Democratic nominee John Kerry sought divine help and African American support Sunday as he preached in chilly Ohio, then worked to fire up supporters in sun-baked Florida.
The Senator, running neck and neck with President George W. Bush in opinion polls, campaigned hard in two battleground states which could decide the election on November 2.
In the Midwest state of Ohio, Kerry hammered his Republican rival's social policies, painting Bush as "out of touch" with ever day Americans.
"We can translate what we believe in, our fundamental faith, we can do God's work here on earth in a better way," Kerry told the largely African-American congregation at the Mount Olivet Baptist Church.
He claimed Bush was bent on privatising the US social security system and doling out more massive tax cuts to the rich, at the expense of social programs and educational needs serving the stretched middle classes.
Kerry, to murmurs of approval from his audience in a simple church with whitewashed interior walls, turned to the scriptures, saying "what does it mean my brother to say you have faith if you have no deeds, faith without works is dead.
"When I look around me, open your eyes, I see work to be done, I see deeds," Kerry said.
"We have got a lot more loving of our neighbor to do in the United States of America.
"I look around me. I see jobs to be created, I see housing to be built, I see seniors who are cutting pills in half in order to be able to survive."
In Florida, Kerry appeared at a rally with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who are campaigning for him throughout the state.
Kerry arrived in Florida on the eve of polling day --- two weeks ahead of the November 2 general election --- which under a new system allows some people to cast an advance vote.
African Americans vote by a huge majority for Democratic candidates, but the party believes that a massive turnout by the community could tip the balance in crucial states where Kerry and Bush are running close.
Kerry also said he had put together a "voter protection dream team" of top lawyers to forestall vote fraud and disenfranchisement.
"Let me just make clear to you, we are not going to let this be a repeat of 2000, we are not going to see a million African Americans deprived of their votes in America," he promised in Ohio.
Kerry carried the same message into Florida, where memories bitter memories of the 2000 election linger. The election was decided in favor of Bush a five week legal battle when the US Supreme Court halted vote counts in the state.
Kerry also lambasted Bush over a shortfall in flu-shots, an especially explosive issue in Florida, home to many senior citizens.
"If Halliburton made flu shots there would be more flu here than oranges," he joked, referring to claims that Vice President Dick Cheney's former company has won preferential treatment on contracts in rebuilding Iraq.