TAMPA, United States (AFP) - George W. Bush and John Kerry on Monday entered the final day of a presidential contest dominated by the war on terror, with the outcome balanced on a knife edge.
The Republican president and his Democratic rival blitzed battleground states in the final hours before Tuesday's election showdown, pitching their plans to win the war on terror and succeed in Iraq, seeking to sway the undecided voters expected to decide the race.
Bush will campaign in six states Monday before returning to his Texas ranch. Kerry will shuttle through four states in less than 24 hours.
A high turnout has been predicted for the election, which will decide the presidency and control of Congress.
Late polls gave Bush, 58, a razor-thin nationwide lead but indicated the result in key swing states remained anyone's guess. Both parties are girding for a repeat of the intense legal battle that marked the 2000 election in states where the result could be disputed.
"We need a president who can do more than one thing at the same time" Kerry, 60, told cheering supporters who chanted "two more days" at a late night rally in Tampa, on Sunday.
"I'm going to hunt down, capture and kill the terrorists, and I believe I will wage a far more effective war on terror than George Bush has," Kerry said in excerpts of an interview with ABC television to be shown Monday.
The Massachusetts senator was due to hold an airport rally in Orlando, Florida, early Monday, before leaving the state for the last time before the election -- in pursuit of crucial battleground votes in the Midwest.
The Kerry camp hopes that bin Laden's new taunts will remind voters of Bush's failure to snare him, more than three years after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But polls have indicated that Bush, who has styled himself as a "war president", is more trusted on national security, and he has also emphasised his leadership since September 11.
Bush, who was resting overnight in Cincinnati, Ohio, planned to rise early for a rally there before travelling to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico and Texas.
Kerry will be in Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
All except Texas are considered states that could go either way.
Four of the latest polls called the contest a dead heat ahead of Tuesday's ballot and four others gave the president a statistically insignificant lead of one to three points.
The winner needs a majority of the 538 electoral college votes that decide the presidency and are awarded in separate, mostly winner-take-all races.
The verdict appeared to hinge on the results in Florida and a handful of northern states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Analysts have not ruled out a candidate winning the popular vote and losing the election -- as Democrat Al Gore did in 2000 -- or a 269-269 tie in the electoral vote that could force Congress to decide the outcome.
The Washington Post, Zogby International and the American Research Group all had their race tied at 48 percent, while Fox News reported a 46-46 percent deadlock.
NBC News and the Rasmussen pollsters gave Bush a one-point edge at 48-47 percent, the TIPP organization put his margin at 46-44 percent and the Pew Research Center at 48-45 percent, still within the margin of error.
Bush appeared to have 25 states with a total of 213 electors nailed down, while Kerry had 14 states and the federal district of Washington D.C. for 190 electors. This left 11 states with 135 electors up for grabs.
Drawing most attention were Florida (27 electors), the midwestern state of Ohio (20) which Bush also won narrowly four years ago, and the eastern state of Pennsylvania (21) that went Democratic in 2000 and was a virtual must-win for Kerry.
Polls showed Kerry with a slight advantage in Pennsylvania and Bush with a small edge in Ohio, which no Republican has ever lost and still gone on to win the White House. Florida was a complete toss-up.
Voter turnout Tuesday could be the key factor, with signs that it may be significantly higher than the 106 million who cast ballots in 2000.
While the presidential race will be the main event Tuesday, some 156 million registered voters will also decide the composition of Congress, where the Republicans control both houses, 11 governorships and a series of state referenda initiatives.
11/01/2004 - 08:17 GMT - AFP