With less than two weeks before the November 2 election, John Kerry planned a hunting outing in rural Ohio to strengthen his appeal among traditionalist male voters, while President George W. Bush traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with the Archbishop of Philadelphia and stress his opposition to same-sex marriage.
On the gun rights front, Kerry repeatedly affirmed Americans' constitutional right to bear arms, though the National Rifle Association remained unmoved. The NRA endorsed Bush and committed roughly $20 million to advertising campaigns portraying Kerry as hostile to gun ownership.
The candidates spent the previous day trading sharp attacks over Iraq and the war on terrorism. Kerry argued that Bush's conduct of the Iraq war had weakened American security. Bush countered by citing a recent Kerry interview in which the senator said the September 11 attacks "didn't change me much at all."
Polling showed a race too close to call. A Pew Research Center survey of 1,307 registered voters placed both men at 45 percent, while a Washington Post tracking poll gave Bush a three-point edge among likely voters.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was reported to be heading to Ohio to campaign for Bush. The White House separately pushed back against evangelical leader Pat Robertson's claim that Bush had predicted no casualties before the March 2003 Iraq invasion.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.