Bush, Kerry adopt softer tone as campaigning winds down

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Entering the final weekend of their long campaign, President Bush and Sen. John Kerry turned Friday to the closing arguments they hoped would seal victory -- the president asserting he was best qualified to protect the nation and Kerry contending Bush didn't understand America's problems.

After four days of tough attacks on Bush over missing explosives in Iraq, Kerry said the election offered a fundamental choice. "Do you want four more years of the same failed course?" he asked voters in pivotal Florida, the state where the race was decided four years ago.

Bush returned to the central theme of his campaign, that he is a stronger leader than Kerry and would do a better job of protecting the country.

"I've learned firsthand how hard it is to send young men and women into battle, even when the cause is right," the president said.