John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, on Wednesday night unleashed volley after volley of facts and statistics to challenge George W. Bush's record on domestic issues, prompting the president to respond with a frontal attack on Mr Kerry's personal credibility.

"You know, there is a mainstream in American politics and you [Kerry] sit right on the far left bank. As a matter of fact, your record is such that Ted Kennedy, your colleague, is the conservative senator from Massachusetts."

George W. Bush

In the third and final presidential debate in Tempe, Arizona, the Massachusetts senator displayed his mastery of the detailed argument, but Mr Bush showed that over the course of three encounters with his opponent he had perfected the art of character assault.