Bush leads Kerry in polls

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

President George Bush hit the campaign trail hours after making a prime time convention speech, in which he promised to win the war on terror.

Meanwhile, his Democratic challenger, Vietnam war hero John Kerry, was on the counter attack, accusing Mr Bush of misleading the US into the Iraq war.

And the Massachusetts Senator accused vice president Dick Cheney of dodging service in Vietnam.

As the Republican Convention came to a close, one poll suggested Mr Bush may have received a small bounce.

Even before the president’s speech, a Rasmussen daily tracking poll found that in a head-to-head contest Mr Bush led Mr Kerry by 49% to 45%.

It is the first time Mr Bush has enjoyed a four-point lead over his rival since April. The US goes to the polls on November 2.

Within hours of delivering his convention speech at Madison Square Garden in New York, Mr Bush was in Pennsylvania, where he rallied supporters, setting out 15 domestic initiatives for a second term.

Earlier, before a national television audience, he vowed that with him in the White House for four more years, the US would prevail in the war on terrorism.

Remembering the September 11 terrorist attacks, he said: “wake up every morning thinking about how to better protect our country. I will never relent in defending America whatever it takes.

“We are staying on the offensive – striking terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.”

He defended the war to oust Saddam Hussein from Iraq, saying: “Do I forget the lessons of September 11 and take the word of a madman, or do I take action to defend our country?

“Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time.”

He thanked his allies in the war on Iraq for their “courage and wise counsel” including British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The convention saw a series of personal attacks on Senator Kerry, among them from vice president Cheney.

But rather than take the blows, Mr Kerry told supporters in Ohio: “We all saw the anger and distortion of the Republican convention.

“For the past week, they attacked my patriotism and my fitness to serve as commander-in-chief.

“Well, here’s my answer: I’m not going to have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and by those who have misled the nation into Iraq.”

Mr Cheney received five deferments during the Vietnam war and remained in America.

“I guess I’ll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation than two tours of duty,” Mr Kerry said.

Mr Bush also remained in the US during the war, serving as a pilot in the Air National Guard.