In Front of the Guns, Kerry Plays Military Card

John Kerry borrowed President George Bush's tactic of using military hardware as a campaign prop yesterday as the Democratic camp sought to promote his credentials as a trustworthy commander-in-chief.

With the latest polls giving Mr Kerry a slender lead with little more than three months to November's elections, the challenger presented his vision of national security with the guns of the USS Wisconsin as a backdrop.

"As president, I will never forget that our security and our strength begins with those brave men and women who wear the uniform as they stand watch somewhere in the world," Mr Kerry told an audience in Norfolk, Virginia, home to the world's largest navy base. "And we should be grateful for their service."

The political battle over national security has intensified in recent weeks, and Democrats preparing to welcome Mr Kerry to their convention tonight are convinced they can trump the Republicans in what is traditionally their strong suit.

Democratic luminaries including past presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have used their appearances at the gathering in Boston to contrast Mr Kerry's distinguished Vietnam service with the more modest, disputed military record of Mr Bush.

A central aim of this week's Democratic convention is to chip away at the Bush campaign's contention that the president has made the country less vulnerable to terrorist attacks since the September 11 atrocities.

Mr Kerry has seized on the release last week of the 9/11 commission report to present himself as more assertive than Mr Bush, who has dallied over what to do with the commission's recommendations.

"If I'd been president last week, I would have immediately said to the commission 'yes, we're going to implement those recommendations'," he said. "Leadership requires that we act decisively. Not talk. Not vague promises. Not excuses. Pedalling and back-pedalling is something America can't afford."

The message that the nation will be more secure in a Kerry presidency has been played at full volume at the convention, whose official theme is strength and service.

It will be one of the defining battlegrounds for the upcoming election, which polls predict will be a photo finish.

A survey released last night shows that Mr Kerry leads in enough of the key states to snatch the presidency from Mr Bush, setting the scene for a contest that could be every bit as closely fought as the 2000 election, when Mr Bush narrowly defeated Al Gore after the intervention of the US supreme court.

Mr Kerry leads in states that give him a total 276 votes in the vital electoral college which determines the presidency. Mr Bush leads in states worth 220 electoral college votes. Three states, including Florida, on which the 2000 contest hinged, remain too close to call this time. But even if all three fell Mr Bush's way, Mr Kerry would have just enough states to claim the White House, for which 270 electoral college votes are required.

The new poll, conducted by Zogby International last weekend in 16 battleground states, shows Mr Bush is regaining some ground compared with early July. That underlines that the 2004 contest could again go right down to the wire and increases the importance of Mr Kerry's eagerly awaited acceptance speech in Boston to morrow, which is expected to be aimed overwhelmingly at undecided voters.

Mr Kerry currently leads in all eight states in the 16 state battleground survey that went Mr Gore's way four years ago. He also leads in four states which Mr Bush captured in 2000 - Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire and Tennessee - and trails within the margin of error in a further three, Arkansas, Florida and Ohio. Mr Bush's only clear lead in a battleground state is in West Virginia.

But Mr Bush can draw comfort from the fact that he is again running particularly strongly in the most populous battleground states with the largest share of the electoral college. Mr Bush leads by 49%-48% in Florida, with 3% undecided or voting for the third candidate, Ralph Nader.

He also leads narrowly in Ohio, by 48%-47%, with undecideds/Nader on 5%. In the third big swing state, Pennsylvania, Mr Kerry leads 52%-45%, Zogby International found.

But with more than three months to go before polling day, the pollsters warn that the result is simply too close to call at this stage.

The closeness of the contest was underlined by a separate nationwide poll published yesterday in the Washington Post, which showed Mr Bush regaining a narrow lead over his challenger, 48% to 46%, as well as gaining ground on Mr Kerry on issues ranging from Iraq and terrorism to the economy and education.