Kerry aides said he would grill Bush on the job losses, rising gas prices, increasing budget deficits and growing rolls of the uninsured that have developed during the Bush administration's first term.

"His record is so weak, he really has trouble articulating a defence for the last four years," Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart said of Bush.

While most polls have Kerry and Bush in a dead heat, Kerry runs ahead of Bush on most domestic issues.

Kerry leads Bush on most domestic issues in polls, including the economy, jobs, health care, education, the environment and the budget deficit. The latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found taxes and terrorism were the only two domestic issues where Bush held an advantage.

Taxes? Is Bush going to promise not to raise them? Wouldn't you just love to see a commercial with GW promising no higher taxes and his father in the background mouthing "Read My Lips?"