SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Setting the themes for their first debate, President Bush contended Monday that John Kerry “cannot expect to lead the world” by taking multiple positions on issues while the Democrat charged the incumbent “refuses to come clean with the American people” on the situation in Iraq.

Both campaigns took a break from their preparations for the first presidential debate, scheduled Thursday in Coral Gables, Fla., and made appearances designed to keep them in the public eye. Bush took a quick bus trip through Ohio before returning to his Texas ranch. Kerry met with voters in Spring Green, Wis., where he has set up debate camp at a local resort. Ohio and Wisconsin are key battleground states.

With the debate only days away, both campaigns sought to reinforce negative images of their opponents.

For Bush, the strategy was to keep portraying Kerry as vacillating on the war in Iraq as well as funding for troops and rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq. The Democratic challenger proceeded with an aggressive effort to portray Bush as out of touch on the realities of Iraq and portraying too positive a picture of a country in which insurgent violence is on the rise.

At a town hall meeting before a modest crowd at the River Valley Middle School, Kerry said he had met a man who asked him if it was wise to change horses in midstream.

“I said to him, “When your horse is headed down to the waterfalls, or when your horse is drowning, it’s a good time to change horses in midstream, folks,”‘ Kerry said to laughter and applause.

Referring to the fact that he is 5 inches taller than Bush, Kerry added, “May I also suggest that we need a taller horse? You can get through deeper waters that way.”

Kerry said Bush has not been truthful about the situation in Iraq, as well as the economy and other issues.

“He keeps telling us, “Oh, we’re making progress. Oh, things are going fine. Oh, everything is OK,”‘ Kerry said, mocking the president for landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln in May of last year as the aircraft carrier carried a “Mission Accomplished” banner.

“It’s not accomplished today and he’s still trying to hide from the American people what needs to be done in order to be successful in Iraq,” Kerry said.

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Citing the late President Harry Truman’s visit to Wisconsin more than 50 years ago, Kerry invoked Truman’s motto and said that Bush “cannot duck the hard problems, he cannot pass the buck.”

Kerry said he was prepared for his encounter with Bush on Thursday night.

“If you’re not prepared for these things after a year and a half of running, I guess you shouldn’t be running,” Kerry said.

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Bush, appearing before large crowds in Springfield and West Chester, Ohio, said it had been tough to prepare to debate Kerry “because he keeps changing positions on the war on terror.” Listing a series of what he contended were inconsistencies in Kerry’s votes and statements, Bush said Kerry “probably could spend 90 minutes debating himself.”

“You cannot lead if you don’t know where you stand,” Bush told an outdoor rally of several thousand people in West Chester. “I’m going to continue to speak as clearly as I can and tell the people what I believe. And I’m not going to change positions when times get tough.”

Bush pounded on the theme that Kerry has not established himself clearly on Iraq while the president also sought to further bolster his image as a leader – something that voters in many public opinion polls have given him an edge.

Meanwhile, a new USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll showed Bush with an 8 percentage point lead over Kerry, 52 percent to 44 percent with Ralph Nader at 3 percent. A similar Gallup survey early this month had Bush up 7 percentage points.

“You got to be able to speak clearly in order to make this world a more peaceful place,” Bush said. “You cannot expect to lead this world if you try to take both sides of every position.”

Kerry said that he has consistently said Saddam Hussein needed to be held accountable, but said Bush rushed to war in Iraq without seeking broad-based international support.

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The Massachusetts Democrat also criticized Bush’s handling of the economy, saying the president would not tell voters on his bus trip “that under his watch, he’s lost 237,000 jobs in Ohio.”

“You’re going to hear all this talk, “Oh, we’ve turned the corner, we’re doing better, blah, blah, you know, blah, and blah and blah,”‘ Kerry said.

The unemployment rate in Ohio was 6.3 percent in August, almost a full percentage point higher than the national average. Bush acknowledged the unemployment situation in Ohio, which has seen a large decline in manufacturing jobs, by making a pitch for a program that creates special economic “opportunity zones” that give employers who locate within them special tax breaks for job training and other investment.

“I understand you’ve been hit hard in Ohio. I know that,” Bush said. “I know there’s people still hurting in this state and that’s why it’s important to continue to promote pro-growth, pro-small business, pro-farmer economic policies.”

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(Pearson reported from Ohio, Zuckman from Wisconsin.)

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(c) 2004, Chicago Tribune.

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AP-NY-09-27-04 1907EDT