DAYTON, Ohio, Oct 31 (AFP) - Democratic nominee John Kerry on Sunday pledged to heal America's "wounds" as he preached to African American worshippers in the crucial swing state of Ohio, two days before the toss-up US election.
Kerry, at the altar of the Shiloh Baptist church, tempered his raw meat political message with lessons from the Bible, to chide the social and economic policies of his opponent, President George W. Bush.
"As the scripture teaches us, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength and they will soar on wings like eagles and they will run and not grow weary and they will walk and not grow faint," Kerry said whipping up cheers from the congregation.
"That's what we are going to do over these next two days and once we have done that job, for the next four years we are going to work out what we need to do to heal the wounds of this country, to be one America," Kerry said.
"We are going to get this done, let's make it happen, let's walk in the footsteps of the Lord."
Kerry implied that Bush's policies on health care, unemployment benefits and overtime pay, did not square with the president's overt Christianity and preference for faith-based social services.
Before arriving at the Baptist church, Kerry took communion at a Dayton Roman Catholic church.
While most worshippers applauded him, one unidentified woman stood up, collected her husband and walked out, muttering, "I won't spend a moment with that man," testimony to the divisions cleaving America before the election.
Kerry fired up his campaign Sunday for a last 48-hour dash through the battlegrounds of his bitter, polarising wrestle for the White House with Bush.
His appearance in church fit with his strategy of pressing for a high turnout among African Americans who vote overwhelmingly Democratic, but according to some evidence have yet to be inspired by his campaign.
Kerry's schedule next took him to New Hampshire, another battleground state, before he was due to make his last stand in Florida, which as in the besmirched 2000 election, could dictate the destiny of the White House.
Kerry was to stump on election eve Monday in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
10/31/2004 15:59 GMT - AFP