Bush, Kerry in desperate mission in Florida

The rivals will both be in the southern state, hoping to whip up enthusiasm among voters who can be among the first in the United States to make their choice in an early balloting system for the November 2 election.

Bush owes his presidency to the 537-vote margin he eked out in Florida over Democrat Al Gore four years ago, when the US Supreme Court halted recounts in the state after a bitter five-week constitutional battle.

Bush blitzed Florida on Saturday before returning to the US capital, but was due to fly in for a campaign dinner late Monday after a stop in New Jersey, before a day of intense campaigning planned for Tuesday.

Kerry jetted in from another battleground state, Ohio, on Sunday, and stayed overnight in West Palm Beach before crisscrossing the state Monday.

"You have got to get out and vote tomorrow," Kerry told several thousand supporters soon after he arrived, and pounced on a quote attributed to Bush in The New York Times magazine which suggested he would privatize social security.

"We are fighting for the character of our country," Kerry said.

Bush asked for the votes of supporters in a string of Florida rallies on Saturday, in which he depicted the veteran Massachusetts senator as unfit to lead.