President Bush and Senator John Kerry took their respective campaigns into two key battleground states Saturday, Ohio and Pennsylvania. National Correspondent Jim Malone has the latest on the battle for the White House from Washington.
Campaigning in Ohio, a state hard hit by job losses, the president said his re-election would ensure that the U.S. economy remains the strongest in the world.
He said, "If the people give me four more years, this country will be safer, our economy will be stronger, our future will be brighter and better for every single citizen."
The Kerry campaign took a similar bus trip through Pennsylvania, another key state in the November election.
Senator Kerry took issue with the president's upbeat view of the economy, and also promised that he would be a strong leader in the war on terrorism.
He said, "I will lead America in war, with the lessons that I learned in war. And I defended this country as a young man, I will defend this country as President of the United States!"
Senator Kerry has begun a two-week, 21-state campaign swing. President Bush also has a busy campaign schedule leading up to the Republican Convention at the end of August.