With eight weeks to go before Election Day, Senator John Kerry has come out swinging against President Bush. In recent days he has ripped the president on Iraq and outsourcing, and gone after Cheney for his five Vietnam deferments.

John Kerry is moving aggressively in the face of polls showing his candidacy slipping. The latest USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll gives President Bush a seven-point lead. And the importance of terrorism, the issue on which Bush has the biggest advantage, surged. Voters now say terrorism is as important as the economy in determining their vote.

Click one of the “Listen” links for a hard look at Kerry’s battle for the presidency.

Guests:

Ray Strother, Democratic Party media consultant, author of “Falling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political Consulting”

Ryan Lizza, senior editor of The New Republic magazine, covering the election

David Gergen, advisor to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, professor of Public Service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government;Dan Payne, Democratic Party strategist and media consultant, former Kerry advisor

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst