Vice-president Attacks Kerry's Lack of Resolve on War and Peace

The Bush campaign last night sent vice-president Dick Cheney on the attack against John Kerry, portraying the Democratic challenger as a man ill-suited to lead the country at a "defining moment" in its history.

In his speech to the Republican convention, Mr Cheney dwelt on what he described as Senator Kerry's shifting positions on critical issues of war and peace, and said he did not have the resolve the country needed.

"Moments come along in history when leaders must make fundamental decisions about how to confront a long-term challenge abroad and how best to keep the American people secure. This nation has reached another of those defining moments," he said, according to early excerpts from his speech.

"And on the question of America's role in the world, the differences between Senator Kerry and President Bush are the sharpest, and the stakes for the country are the highest."

The president arrived in New York last night to watch his deputy's performance from a fire station in Queens, reinforcing a persistent theme of the convention - the president's resolve following the September 11 attacks, and his supposed bond with survivors.

His speech tonight is expected to restate his determination to mount an offensive war against foreign terrorists and set out a programme of domestic reform aimed at rewriting the tax code and privatising government pensions.

Earlier yesterday, Karl Rove, the president's chief political strategist, also went on the offensive, alleging that Mr Kerry's anti-war activism after his return from Vietnam "tarnished the records and service" of fellow veterans.

The Kerry campaign denounced the remarks as "outra geous" but they again put the Democratic camp on the defensive over his war record.

Attacks by anti-Kerry veterans, accusing him of lying about his war record, appear to have had an impact at the polls. A narrow Kerry lead at the beginning of last month has been turned into a small edge for Mr Bush in the past two weeks.

Rumours spread yesterday of dissatisfaction among se nior Democrats over how Mr Kerry has handled the Bush assault on his Vietnam record. He showed signs he was taking the criticism seriously by hiring new staff, including such veterans of the Clinton era as the former White House spokesman, Joe Lockhart.

Mr Kerry also hit back yesterday, attempting to switch the debate from the Vietnam war to the Iraq conflict. He ditched a political tradition under which a presidential candidate refrains from campaigning during his opponent's party convention, and appeared before the annual meeting of the biggest veterans' group, the American Legion, in Nashville, Tennessee.

"I would never have gone to war without a plan to win the peace," he said. "President Bush now admits he miscalcu lated in Iraq. In truth, his miscalculation was ignoring the advice that was given to him, including the best advice of America's own military."

Mr Kerry criticised the president for admitting on Monday that the "war on terror" could not be won, an admission Mr Bush retracted in his own address to the American Legion on Tuesday. He said the US "is winning" and "will win".

Adding to Mr Kerry's woes was the news yesterday that Ralph Nader, the independent third candidate in the race, had succeeded in collecting enough signatures to put his name on the ballot in the pivotal swing state of Florida.