President George Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card has declared the President the winner of the US presidential election "by a decisive margin of victory".

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today that US President George Bush appeared on track for a second term, and said Australia’s government could build on its already strong relationship with the Bush administration.

Americans are starting to go to the polls to decide whether George Bush or John Kerry will be their president for the next four years.

GEORGE W BUSH and John Kerry criss-crossed the United States today in a furious last-minute sprint to win votes in today’s election.

US President George Bush and election challenger John Kerry were entering a final breathless weekend of campaigning today, ahead of Tuesday’s election.

FOR some time now, Rónán Mullen has been writing articles in support of George Bush.

DEMOCRATIC challenger John Kerry turned President Bush’s own words into a weapon yesterday and said it was the Republican incumbent who had jumped to conclusions in Iraq, disqualifying him from being commander-in-chief.

President George Bush and election challenger John Kerry are hoping celebrity power can boost them to victory in next Tuesday’s vote.

In a stinging exchange, President Bush criticised Democratic challenger John Kerry as “the wrong man for the wrong job at the wrong time” today.

Nearly one in 10 voters in the US election have already cast ballots – and George Bush has taken a narrow early lead over Senator John Kerry, according to a poll out today.

Former US President Bill Clinton hit the election campaign trail, just weeks after undergoing open heart surgery, and urged Americans to vote for Senator John Kerry.

IT’S like a vast, frenetic game of Monopoly in its closing stages.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush stepped up his attack on election rival John Kerry yesterday, suggesting the Democratic Senator could not keep the US safe from terrorists.

A CANON lawyer seeking to have Senator John Kerry excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church because of his support for abortion rights said on Monday that he had ammunition in the form of a letter issued at the request of a senior Vatican official.

President George Bush was leading the race for the White House today, with just over two weeks to go until the United States goes to the polls.

US President George Bush today questioned Senator John Kerry’s “ability to lead our nation” raising the Democratic challenger’s year-old opposition to emergency funding for the Iraq war.

The US presidential election sunk to a new low today as a public row over the sexuality of the vice president’s daughter rumbled on.

President George Bush and election challenger Senator John Kerry clashed on domestic issues facing the United States in their third and final live televised debate overnight.

Coalition attacks on rebel-held cities in Iraq will be suspended until after the US presidential election, it was reported today.

President George Bush delivered a combative defence of his policies last night as he went head-to-head in a second live debate with his election challenger John Kerry.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush, in biting criticism of his Democratic challenger, said yesterday that John Kerry has “a strategy of retreat” for Iraq and an economic programme that would imperil America at home.

US President George Bush, in biting criticism of his Democratic challenger, said today that John Kerry has “a strategy of retreat” for Iraq and an economic programme that would imperil America at home.

George Bush and John Kerry have locked horns on live television in the first face-to-face debate of the presidential election campaign.

As George Bush and John Kerry go head-to-head in what is considered the most crucial presidential election in generations, America has turned to another issue – the colour of Senator Kerry’s face.

Iraq and the war on terrorism remained at the forefront of the battle for the White House today.

Presidential hopeful John Kerry tried to win voters with laughs today, poking fun at George Bush on the David Letterman television talk show.

US president George Bush will defend his decision to invade Iraq when he addresses the United Nations today, a day after his election challenger John Kerry accused him of lying about the reasons for war.

President George W Bush, his Vietnam-era military service the subject of dispute, today said he was proud of his stint in the Air National Guard and told members strained by today’s wars that he was trying to make their lives easier.

US President George Bush was given special treatment to avoid being sent to war in Vietnam as a young man, it was claimed today.

President George Bush might try to dodge one of three live TV debates with election challenger John Kerry, it emerged today.

DEMOCRATIC presidential nominee John Kerry launched one of his harshest broadsides against the Iraq war yesterday and drew an angry response from President George W Bush, in a clash that overshadowed their attempts to focus on the economy.

The increasingly bitter presidential election race stepped up a gear today as the Republican National Convention ended and campaigning resumed.

US President George Bush was tonight ready to call on the American people to send him back to the White House for another term.

Left wing film-maker Michael Moore faced a barrage of jeers and boos at the Republican National Convention today.

President George Bush, undertaking a heavy campaign schedule in key states in the run-up to the Republican National Convention, acknowledges a “miscalculation” of the difficulties the United States would encounter in the post-Saddam era occupation of Iraq.

The ball is in the court of Northern Ireland politicians if there is going to be political progress next month, former US President Bill Clinton claimed today.

Attacks on John Kerry’s war record may be beginning to have an impact, polls suggest, amid raised voices and new TV ads on a subject at least temporarily dominating debate in the close US presidential race.

US Senator John Kerry’s campaign team today called for a book which contains “proven falsehoods” about the presidential candidate’s Vietnam war record to be taken off the shelves.

John Kerry accused President Bush today of relying on front groups to challenge his record of valour in the Vietnam war, asserting, “He wants them to do his dirty work”.

Lawyers for presidential hopeful John Kerry today attacked “false and libellous” political adverts by former Vietnam veterans who claim the senator shot a fleeing teenager during the war and lied to win medals.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will continue to be a key ally for the United States even if Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry succeeds in ousting George Bush from the White House, a senior aid to the challenger said today.

US Presidential candidate John Kerry needs to get real about the political process in Northern Ireland, he was told today.

The wife of Senator John Kerry said the Demorcratic his party had “putrid” politics and that some of its senior members were untrustworthy, according to a book unearthed today.

AS BILL Clinton basked in the spotlight yesterday at the opening of the Democratic convention, John Kerry visited Florida to press his case as to why voters should put him the White House in place of President George Bush.