Kerry shifts focus from Iraq to American dream

Residents of Dade county, Florida, use electronic voting machines to cast their votes at a local polling station Friday in Coral Gables, Florida. Some 1.4 million voters of a total of some 10 million registered voters in Florida have voted early ahead of the November 2 presidential elections. The electronic voting machines replaced the controversial punch card system, which was used in the last presidential election. PHOTO: AFP

But his message was likely to be overshadowed by the airing of a new videotape from Osama bin Laden, in which the al-Qaeda leader threatened new attacks and told the American people that their security was not in the hands of either Bush or Kerry, but depends on US policy.

Kerry, in a speech in Orlando in the crucial swing state Florida, which could once again decide who lives in the White House, did not even mention the 350 tonnes of missing high explosives which ignited the controversy.

He instead painted Bush's "failures" in broad strokes, on Iraq, pressing home his argument that the president either does not see, or does not care about disintegrating order in the occupied country.

"Every day, every headline has brought fresh evidence that our commander in chief doesn't see what is happening ... his mistakes and misjudgements have hurt our troops, driven away allies, diverted our focus from Osama bin Laden, and the real war on terror," he said.