15 October 2004	Friday	29 Shaban 1425

WASHINGTON, Oct 14: Each claiming momentum from their final debate, US President George W. Bush and White House hopeful rival John Kerry on Thursday set their sights on battleground states just 19 days before the election.

Mr Kerry all but erased Bush's lead over the course of their three 90-minute exchanges, and with national polls showing them deadlocked, the race shifted to a handful of up-for-grabs states that will decide the Nov 2 election.

President Bush and Senator Kerry battled late Wednesday over Iraq, terrorism, health care, and jobs and for a third straight debate, Mr Kerry stood his ground against Mr Bush, slugging it out with the president bent on painting him as a dangerous left-winger on social issues.

Face to face for the last time before the Nov 2 election, Mr Bush charged Mr Kerry was weak on terrorism; favoured higher taxes and government-run health care; and quipped the senator sat on 'the far-left bank' of US politics.

Mr Kerry countered that the president had let Osama bin Laden slip away because of his focus on Iraq; abandoned the US middle class in favour of cutting taxes on the richest Americans; and short-changed efforts to secure US borders.

From the very first question, the candidates battled on arguably the most important issue of the 2004 election: Who would be more successful in leading the war on terrorism Bush declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The president "rushed us into a war" in Iraq, and "pushed alliances away," said the senator from Massachusetts, who warned: "We are not as safe as we ought to be."

"My opponent just this weekend talked about how terrorism could be reduced to a 'nuisance,' comparing it to prostitution, illegal gambling," Mr Bush said, quoting a Kerry interview. "That attitude and that point of view is dangerous."

The Democrat accused Bush of letting Osama bin Laden slip away and pointed to Bush's comments six months later that he was not concerned about the Al Qaeda leader's fate.

"Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those exaggerations," said Mr Bush, who has repeatedly accused Mr Kerry of being fickle and unreliable on national security issues. -Agencies

ANWAR IQBAL ADDS: Six judges on a seven-person panel declared Senator John Kerry the winner of Wednesday's final presidential debate. The panel was pulled together for the United Press International news agency.

The one panelist who found President Bush to be the winner of the debate, University of Redlands debate director Bill Southworth, said: "Perhaps practice does make perfect!" He gave President George W. Bush a score of 21, Senator Kerry 19.

Mr Southworth said that Mr Bush was strong on domestic issues, a stark contrast from the first presidential debate in which he foundered discussing foreign-policy issues. He added that Sen. Kerry was defensive throughout the debate, even defending a 'litmus test' for choosing a Supreme Court Justice.

Each of the seven debate judges was asked to rank the candidates on their ability to focus on issues, present valid facts, refute their opponent's inaccuracies, respond effectively to questions and present a clear message, on a scale of 1 to 5.

Several of the panelists found the president to be more appealing and engaging than in the past two debates, but not enough to call him a winner.