Bush and Kerry level ahead of debate

US President George W Bush and Democratic Senator John Kerry remained deadlocked in the White House race going into their final debate last night, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released yesterday.

Bush and Kerry held steady at 45% each in the latest three-day tracking poll, raising the stakes for last night’s pivotal final debate in Tempe, Arizona.

The debate, the last big scheduled event in the campaign, could give the winner a critical boost in momentum for the final three-week push to the November 2 election.

Pollster John Zogby said 7% of likely voters remained undecided ahead of last night’s encounter.

Zogby said only 11% of those undecided voters felt Bush deserved to be re-elected and 40% thought it was time for someone new. Nearly half of the undecideds were uncertain whether Bush should get another term.

Whether Kerry can persuade those undecided voters he is up to the job of president and motivate them to go to the polls in November could be a key, Zogby said.

The final debate, on the campus of Arizona State University, was to focus on domestic issues like jobs, taxes and health care, which usually favour Democrats but have been overshadowed this year by the raging arguments over the Iraq war.

Bush has stepped up his attacks on the Massachusetts senator’s voting record in the past few weeks, labelling him a liberal who would raise taxes and burden the health care system with government bureaucracy.

Kerry responds that the first term of the Bush administration has produced fewer jobs, higher gas prices, bigger budget deficits and more uninsured people.