ORLANDO, Florida, Oct 19 (AFP) - Senator John Kerry's election team geared up to beat back President George W. Bush's latest fierce attack and check a slight dip in polls as he campaigned in four key states Tuesday.
Two weeks before election day, Kerry was due to greet supporters at Orlando airport in Florida before flying north to Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Conventional wisdom has it that the candidate who wins the November 2 election will take at least two out of three of those critical states where the race is currently to be too close to call.
Kerry, who will fly on to another key swing state Iowa after an evening rally in Ohio, was the target of the most blistering attack yet from Bush on Monday.
The president, campaigning in New Jersey, where many of the victims of the September 11 strike on the World Trade Center lived, said Kerry's policies were tantamount to "giving up" the struggle against terror.
"Senator Kerry's approach would permit a response only after America is hit. This kind of September 10 attitude is no way to protect our country," he said.
Kerry angrily denounced the attack and maintains that he would do a better job of protecting the United States than Bush, whom he said diverted resources from the hunt for Osama bin Laden to the war in Iraq.
The Democratic challenger got his retaliation in first, preempting Bush's speech at a rally in Florida's West Palm Beach.
"The bottom line Mr President: your mismanagement of the war has made Iraq and America less safe and secure than they could have been and should have been today."
Kerry's senior advisor Mike McCurry said Bush's diatribe opened up a crucial stage of the campaign endgame.
"This is a very critical period. (Monday) opened up what is arguably his (Bush's) most critical attack on Senator Kerry."
"We cannot let that argument stand. We are going to be rebuffing it very aggressively over the next 48-72 hours," McCurry told reporters on Kerry's campaign plane late Monday.
"If we can defeat this (attack) at this point, or at least neutralize it ... we think we'll be in a very strong position in the closing days of the campaign."
Kerry's team has unveiled an aggressive advertising buy in some key states with a spot titled "Bush's mess" and expects to have another similar campaign active in the next few days.
Most recent opinion polls have put Bush in a slight lead in the race nationwide, but still within the margin of error. Others say the two rivals are running neck-and-neck.
Kerry campaign aides have said they are not concerned that Bush may be opening up a lead and have expressed disquiet at the methodology of some of the polls.
But they have acted fast to counteract any impression that Bush might be gaining speed -- which could be more damaging to their candidate that a slight dip in the polls, as it could spread the sense that he cannot win the election.
Bush was due to drive home his own offensive in Florida on Tuesday, a day after early voting opened in a state made infamous by its role in the 2000 election debacle which ended with him in the White House.
Kerry, is expected to be back in the key southeastern state soon, perhaps as early as this weekend, aides said.