Bush & Kerry trade jabs on campaign trail

Bush, who opened up a significant 11-point lead on Kerry in a new Time poll, hailed a government report showing 144,000 US jobs were created in August and said "because we acted, our economy is growing again."

"We've overcome a recession, corporate scandals, a terrorist attack," Bush told a roaring crowd of 20,000 supporters in West Allis, Wisconsin, the day after accepting the Republican nomination for a second White House term.

"Our economy is growing and it's getting stronger," Bush said.

But Kerry said the economy still had shed nearly 1 million jobs under Bush and he was "now certain to be the first president since the Great Depression to face re-election without creating a single job."

The Massachusetts senator came out swinging after a week of attacks on his character and record at the Republican convention, dismissing the criticism as "bitter and insulting."

"Every time they open their mouths they can't tell the truth," Kerry said at a rally in Newark, Ohio, a key battleground state. "It's time for us to have a president of the United States who can look you in the eye and when he does, you know you're being told the truth."

The Time magazine poll, taken over the last three days of the Republican convention, showed Bush leading Kerry 52 percent to 41 percent among likely voters and ranking ahead of him on issues like handling the economy, the Iraq war, taxes and terrorism.

Most polls heading into the convention had shown Bush and Kerry neck and neck, but Bush gaining ground and developing a significant advantage over Kerry on issues like national security.

Kerry said on Friday he would not allow Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney, who led a stinging assault on Kerry at the convention, to question his fitness to serve.

"I will not have my commitment to defending this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they had had a chance, and I will not have it questioned by those who misled this nation into war in Iraq," the Vietnam veteran said.

Neither Bush nor Cheney served in Vietnam. Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard and Cheney obtained five draft deferments.

Both Bush and Kerry hit the road to visit key swing states ahead of the long Labor Day holiday weekend, traditionally the kick off for political races.