Less than a week before the US presidential poll, it appears that the only certainty is uncertainty in the race between President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry.
Both candidates have focused their campaigns on homeland security, Iraq and the war on terrorism in the final days, partially in response to an early October survey which showed homeland security was the top concern of Americans.
After the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, the Bush administration launched a global campaign against terrorism and, in its name, toppled the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
The two wars turned Bush from a weak into a strong president. However, there is not much that the Republican president can boast of on domestic issues, except for the tax cuts passed by Congress. Kerry is getting more support from voters on the economy and other domestic issues, according to a number of opinion polls.
It was against this backdrop that the Bush campaign placed its focus on terrorism and homeland security, making the two subjects a "trump card" in his re-election bid.
The Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people have had a tremendous impact on the American public. Taking advantage of the impact, Republicans and the Bush campaign have virtually preset the themes of the presidential race this year.
Analysts said the president, taking advantage of his incumbency, had repeatedly emphasized the United States was still at war in an attempt to strike home the message that American voters should not replace the military commander-in-chief in the middle of war.
After Kerry was found ahead of Bush in approval ratings, the Bush administration issued a warning that intelligence indicated terrorist organizations might plot to attack the United States before the election.
Bush's strategy was quite successful, with the majority of voters putting terrorism and homeland security above domestic issues such economy and employment.
Despite findings by US inspectors that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction before the US-led Iraq war in March last year, and by the Sept. 11 commission that the former Iraqi regime had no collaborative ties with the al Qaeda terrorist organization, Bush defended his decision by saying the United States was safer without Saddam Hussein.
The developments in Iraq, nevertheless, provided ammunition for his Democratic rival to attack him on foreign policy.
The Kerry camp criticized the Bush administration of rushing to war in Iraq and misleading the US public on the case for war. Bush launched a counterattack and accused Kerry of being inconsistent on Iraq, citing Kerry's vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq and a later vote against a bill to appropriate funds for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Democrats and the Kerry campaign often referred to achievements in economy and employment in the Clinton years, trying to convince American voters that Democrats were better at handling economic issues.
Despite the Democrats' efforts to divert attention to domestic issues, terrorism, Iraq and homeland security remained the focul issues in the race.
As almost all opinion polls showed the candidates are tied in public support, this year's election could turn out to be neck-and- neck as happened four years ago between Bush and Al Gore.