All eyes on Florida as early voting set to begin

8.00am

MIAMI - Democrat John Kerry sounded a warning to Americans on Social Security as he headed to Florida on Sunday, a critical battleground state where early voting was set to begin under heavy scrutiny because of the recount controversy four years ago.

The Massachusetts senator began the day in a black church in Columbus, Ohio, while his running mate, North Carolina Senator John Edwards scheduled a second full day of campaigning in Florida, where early balloting begins on Monday.

With just over two weeks to go until Election Day, President George W Bush had the day off in Washington. Bush was in Florida on Saturday. The state's 27 electoral votes likely will be key to who wins the November 2 election.

New polls over the weekend continued to show the race between Kerry and Bush to be very close, though Bush appeared to have a bit of an edge among likely voters. In key battleground states, however, the surveys suggested Kerry claims a significant lead. A new Washington Post poll found Kerry held a 53 per cent to 43 per cent advantage among likely voters in 13 such states.

"I think those have been breaking for us over the last few weeks since the start of the first debate. So we feel good where we are," Kerry campaign adviser Joe Lockhart said on Fox News Sunday.

But in Florida, the state won by Bush by 537 votes in 2000 after a bitter ballot recount dispute, the Post poll released on Saturday showed Kerry and Bush tied among likely voters, with 48 per cent each and independent Ralph Nader at 1 per cent. Nader's statewide percentage was slightly less than what he received four years ago, probably costing Democrat Al Gore the state.

Though Gore won the popular vote in the country, a 36-day recount effort in Florida was halted by the US Supreme Court, awarding the electoral college votes and the election to Bush.

Nader told CNN's Late Edition he had no plans to withdraw from the race.

"Of course not. No, less chance than John Kerry or George W Bush dropping out," Nader said.

This year, Florida already has had legal skirmishes, with challenges lodged about the purging of a high percentage of black felons from voter lists, requests for a paper confirmation of touch-screen voting, and whether voters who show up at the wrong polling place will receive a ballot.

Bush's brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, said the state had made changes.

"We have done everything we can to make sure that people have access to register to vote and that we've made it easy for people to vote. Starting Monday, people will have the chance to vote early," Jeb Bush said on ABC's This Week.

While the economy in the state has been strong, the Republican governor expressed worry that a spate of four hurricanes in August and September, which hit Republican counties hardest, will reduce turnout for the president.

Before heading to the state that is home to many retirees who rely heavily on Social Security, Kerry said Bush had a "big January surprise" for the government retirement plan, one that could reduce benefits by US$500 ($740.63) a month for many Americans.

"We just learned yesterday that the president told his biggest and wealthiest donors about his big 'January surprise,"' Kerry told a black congregation in Columbus, Ohio, seizing on remarks by Bush reported in The New York Times Magazine that if re-elected, he would "come out strong after my swearing in with fundamental tax reform, tort reform, privatizing of Social Security".

A new Kerry campaign ad claimed it would cost US$2 trillion and mean a 45 per cent cut in benefits.

Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot said, "That's absolutely preposterous. What the president is talking about and has talked about from the moment he ran in 2000 is allowing younger people, younger workers to own a portion of their Social Security and invest it and make decisions".

Kerry said Bush's Social Security plan was further proof he was "out of touch" with the needs of average Americans.

A spate of newspapers announced endorsements on Sunday, with The New York Times supporting Kerry, citing his wide knowledge and clear thinking. The Chicago Tribune backed Bush, noting what it called his resoluteness in fighting the war on terror.

- REUTERS