Bush, Kerry step up war of words in Ohio, Florida

With polls showing a virtually deadlocked contest just 17 days before the Nov. 2 election, Bush toured Florida where he called Kerry a political opportunist unfit to lead amid "great threats" to America.

He said Kerry's vote a year ago against a request for $87 billion to fund the Iraq war was at odds with his earlier vote to authorize the use of force.

"His contradictions call into question his credibility and his ability to lead our nation," said Bush, accompanied by his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, on a bus tour of the state that sent him to the White House in 2000 after a recount battle ultimately decided by the US Supreme Court.

Bush also criticized comments by Kerry in the Des Moines Register that there was "great potential" for a military draft if Bush were re-elected -- even though Bush said in a televised debate with Kerry this week there would not be one.

"We will not have a draft," Bush told a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida. "No matter what my opponent tries to tell people and scare them, we will have an all-volunteer army. The only person talking about a draft is my opponent."

Kerry was in Ohio, another electoral battleground, where he ripped Bush's economic record. The Massachusetts senator has paid 20 visits this year to the closely contested state that went narrowly for Bush in 2000 but has lost 173,000 manufacturing jobs during his presidency.

"Mr. President, the millions of Americans who have lost jobs on your watch are not 'myths,' they are middle-class families -- and for four years, you've turned your back on them," Kerry told a town hall meeting.