Candidates desperate for last-minute advantage

By DAVID USBORNE

FORT LAUDERDALE - The race for the White House is into its final day with the outcome predicted to depend on how many Americans take the trouble to vote.

As one pollster put it, "it comes down to three things: turnout, turnout and turnout".

There was no evidence that either candidate had gathered a last-minute burst of momentum or any clear suggestion that the release of a new Osama bin Laden videotape had significantly altered the electoral landscape.

Still neck and neck, both candidates appeared at rallies in two of the most vital states in the race - Florida and Ohio - and Senator John Kerry also made a quick visit to New Hampshire.

And each man used the last hours of campaigning to batter and mock the other as ill-suited to be the country's leader.

While the bin Laden message appeared at first to be the "October Surprise" that every campaign fears in the last days of a presidential campaign, it seemed that the level of influence on voters might be minimal. But, with this race so tight, every small breeze could be enough to change the outcome.

Pollsters remain at a loss, their difficulties compounded by the likelihood of a very high turnout and uncertainty over which candidate stands to gain more from it.

There was cautious confidence at the start of the weekend inside the Bush camp that the bin Laden tape would give them some advantage after several days when bad news - ranging from missing explosives in Iraq to an FBI investigation into contracts awarded to Halliburton, formerly headed by Vice-President Dick Cheney - had worked against them.

"We're going to carry Florida and win a victory," a visibly charged George Bush told supporters at the Miami rally after scorning Mr Kerry for inconsistency. "He has entered the flip-flop Hall of Fame," he quipped.

The polls

Reuters/ Zogby: Bush 48 Kerry 48

Washington Post: Bush 48 Kerry 48

CBS-New York Times: Bush 49 Kerry 46

- INDEPENDENT