US President George W. Bush and the Democratic Senator John Kerry have traded accusations over Iraq and the so-called war on terror.
Mr Bush condemned Mr Kerry's "strategy of retreat". while Mr Kerry said the administration's Iraq policy had been "hijacked by ideologues".
Barely two weeks before an extremely close November 2nd election, the president travelled to Democratic-leaning New Jersey to remind voters of the September 11th, 2001, attacks and his "clear moral purpose" in response.
He contrasted that with Mr Kerry, who he condemned for taking the "easy path of protest and defeatism".
Mr Kerry kicked off early voting in the crucial battleground state of Florida with a sharp indictment of Mr Bush's "arrogant" handling of the Iraq war and of health care issues at home.
"Despite the president's arrogant boasting that he has done everything right in Iraq and that he's made no mistakes, the truth is beginning to catch up with him," the Massachusetts senator said in Tampa, Florida.
Mr Kerry cited a Washington Postreport about complaints that the former top US commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, sent to the Pentagon last winter regarding shortages of parts and equipment.
"Mr. President, you can choose to ignore the facts, but in the end, you can't hide the truth from the American people," he said. "I will never allow our policy to be hijacked by ideologues at the expense of the best advice of our military professional commanders."
Mr Bush told supporters Kerry did not share his commitment to victory in Iraq and had "a fundamental misunderstanding of the war on terror".
He said: "Winning the war on terror requires more than tough-sounding words repeated in the election season. America needs clear moral purpose and leaders who will not waver, especially in the tough times," Mr Bush said in Marlton, New Jersey.
Mr Bush accused his rival of taking "almost every conceivable position on Iraq" but said he "finally has settled on a strategy - a strategy of retreat."
A Kerry campaign adviser, Mr Joe Lockhart, said Mr Bush's speech was a sign "he sees his presidency slipping away," although several polls have shown movement toward Mr Bush since last week's final debate.
A Reuters/Zogby poll yesterday showed the race deadlocked, but a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll gave the president an eight-point lead among likely voters.