US President George W. Bush, going on the attack after a slip in the polls, says Democratic rival John Kerry's "mind-set of September 10th" would paralyse the United States and weaken its ability to respond to threats.
Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, campaigning in Florida the day after a heated debate with Vice President Dick Cheney, responded that Bush was "in a complete state of denial" about Iraq and unable to fix the deteriorating security situation.
Yesterday's exchange came two days before the next debate between White House rivals Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, and Bush and hours after the encounter between their running mates produced plenty of sparks but no decisive winner.
Bush, at a campaign appearance in the swing state of Pennsylvania that was originally slated to address medical liability reform, attacked Kerry's Senate record and said his opponent "has looked for every excuse to constrain America's action in the world."
"On national security, he offers the defensive mind-set of September the 10th - a global test to replace American leadership, a strategy of retreat in Iraq and a 20-year history of weakness in the United States Senate," Bush told supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Bush, trying to regain his footing after a widely panned performance in last week's debate, said Kerry's "record of weakness" made him unfit to respond to the threats posed after the September 11, 2001, attacks and claimed he had insulted US allies.
"Senator Kerry said our soldiers and Marines are not fighting for a mistake but also called the liberation of Iraq a colossal error. He said we need to do more to train Iraqis, but he also said we shouldn't be spending so much money over there," Bush said.
"You hear all that and you can understand why somebody would make a face," he said, poking fun at his angry expressions during the debate with Kerry.
Kerry aides said Bush's speech was an attempt to rectify his mistakes in last week's debate. The two meet on Friday in St. Louis, Missouri, in a debate that will cover all topics, and next week they will meet in Arizona on domestic issues.
"The president tried to redo the debate from last week by giving a speech full of untruths he couldn't say on stage with John Kerry because he knew Kerry would knock them down," Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said.