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Bush, Kerry duel over jobs, health care
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-14 09:26

John Kerry, meeting President Bush in their third and final debate, said Wednesday night that Bush rushed to war and pushed decades-long allies away, and as a result "America is now bearing this extraordinary burden" of the war in Iraq.

Bush said he had a comprehensive strategy to chase down al-Qaida.

With less than three weeks of campaigning left before the election, the 90-minute debate at Arizona State University gave the candidates a final nationwide chance to reach out to undecided voters in the battleground states and to encourage their strongest supporters to turn out in large numbers.

President Bush answers a question during the presidential debate in Tempe, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2004.[AP]

Republican Bush enters the debate touting his record of tax cuts and a new prescription drug benefit. His line of attack is no secret: He has repeatedly labeled Massachusetts Sen. Kerry a liberal who would turn the nation's health care over to government bureaucrats, raise taxes and weaken national defenses against terrorists.

Democrat Kerry comes to the faceoff promoting a detailed health care plan and a promise to ease the financial pinch on middle-class families. He's put a spotlight on job losses and lobbed accusations that the Republican administration has spent four years doling out favors to powerful friends while raising the tax burden on the middle class.

Democratic nominee John Kerry (L) shakes hands with U.S. President George W. Bush at the start of their third and final debate, at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona October 13, 2004. Bush and Kerry prepared Wednesday for a final debate that could give the winner a critical boost in the last three weeks of a tight White House race. [Reuters]

The 90-minute debate comes less than three weeks before voters are to pick the next president. With poll after poll showing the country divided between the two candidates, there is no room for error.

The Bush camp hopes the last debate will erase any lingering negative impressions left by the president's scowling demeanor in the first. He tempered that image in the second, still testy, confrontation.

Kerry has to make sure voters would feel safe turning the White House over to him.

Democratic nominee John Kerry (L) makes a point while U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and moderator Bob Schieffer look on, during the third and final presidential debate at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, October 13, 2004. [Reuters]

The debate gives the candidates a final, nationwide chance to reach out to undecided voters in the battleground states and to encourage their strongest supporters to turn out in large numbers.

The first presidential debate this year drew 62.5 million viewers, the second 46.7 million. The vice presidential debate had 43.6 million.

In the hours before the debate:

_ Bush won an expected endorsement from the National Rifle Association, which plans to spend about $20 million on behalf of the president's re-election, mostly in battleground states. The NRA contends that Kerry wants to ban gun ownership.

_ Kerry's campaign rolled out new television ads accusing Bush of distorting the Democrat's health-care plan and criticizing the president for rising costs. Kerry, referring to comments made Monday by Treasury Secretary John Snow, said Snow delivered an "outrageous slap in the face to America's middle class" when he said it was a myth that there had been economic failures on Bush's watch.

In a statement released Wednesday evening, Snow said his comments were being misconstrued by critics of the Bush administration. "In my comments, I was responding to criticisms of the president's economic policies and unfounded comparisons that are being made. Those charges are simply not credible," Snow said. "The president's leadership and policies turned this economy around and put it on a strong upward path. This was the key point I was making."

The candidates leave after the last debate for a furious stretch of campaigning. Bush heads to Nevada, Iowa and Florida, as Kerry travels to Nevada, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio.

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