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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. On November second, the United States willhold general elections. Americans will vote for national, state andlocal representatives. They also will choose a president, as they doevery four years. Today we tell about the two major candidates forpresident.

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VOICE ONE:

President George W. Bush isseeking a second term in office. He is the Republican Partycandidate. The Democratic Party candidate is John Kerry. He is amember of the United States Senate.

Americans in past elections sometimes objected that the majorcandidates seemed to agree about many issues. Clearly, that is nottrue this year. George W. Bush and John Kerry each say they canprotect Americans from harm and improve the economy. But the two menhave very different ideas about how the United States should begoverned.

VOICE TWO:

In some ways, the lives of both candidates are similar. Both wereborn into well-educated families. They had more wealth than averageAmericans. Mister Kerry's father was a Foreign Service officer forthe State Department. Mister Bush's father served four years asPresident. He had been Vice President for eight years and heldseveral other high-level positions in government.

George W. Bush and John Kerry attended some of the best schoolsin the United States. Both men are married and the fathers of twoadult daughters. Mister Bush's wife Laura is a former teacher.

Mister Kerry's wife Teresa is chairman of two large aidorganizations. She accepted the position after her first husband,Senator John Heinz, died in nineteen ninety-one.

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VOICE ONE:

George W. Bush was born in the state of Connecticut in nineteenforty-six. However, he grew up in Texas. He graduated from YaleUniversity in Connecticut. During the Vietnam War, he was a fighterpilot in the Texas Air National Guard. This meant he did not have tofight in Vietnam.

Critics have said that Mister Bush's father helped his son get aposition in the Air National Guard. There also are reports thatGeorge W. Bush did not complete all his requirements in the NationalGuard. But he left the service with honor when his term of dutyended. Then he studied business administration at Harvard BusinessSchool in Massachusetts.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Bush returned to Texas and worked in the energy business.He has said he became serious about Christianity during this period.Since then, he says religion has been important in his life. MisterBush worked for his father's campaign for president in nineteeneighty-eight. Later, George W. Bush became part owner of the TexasRangers baseball team. He was elected governor of Texas in nineteenninety-four. Four years later, he won a second term in office.

Mister Bush was the Republican candidate for President four yearsago. He defeated Vice President Al Gore in an extremely close,disputed race.

VOICE ONE:

George W. Bush was sworn in as America's forty-third President onJanuary twentieth, two thousand one. On September eleventh,militants linked to the al-Qaida terror group attacked the UnitedStates. Three thousand people were killed in the attacks.

President Bush said the United States would punish thoseresponsible. He also announced what he called a war againstterrorism. The Taleban government in Afghanistan had providedsupport for al-Qaida. The United States military ousted the Talebanand captured suspected al-Qaida supporters.

President Bush supported creation of the USA Patriot Act. Thismeasure increases the powers of law enforcement and intelligenceagencies. Critics say parts of the law violate Constitutionalguarantees of privacy and fair treatment.

VOICE TWO:

In early two thousand two, President Bush told Congress that thewar against terrorism was just beginning. He said the United Statesmust stop terrorists from possessing chemical, biological or nuclearweapons. The President criticized three nations – North Korea, Iranand Iraq. He said they were an axis of evil, arming to threaten thepeace of the world.

The United States and Britain invaded Iraq and ousted its leader,Saddam Hussein, last year. Mister Bush said Saddam had weapons ofmass destruction and was a threat to the United States. Recently,America's chief weapons inspector reported that no weapons of massdestruction have been found in Iraq. But Mister Bush saysintelligence reports showed enough of a threat to remove SaddamHussein from power.

In June, an American-led coalition gave power to a temporaryIraqi government. Iraq is expected to hold elections in January.

VOICE ONE:

In the United States, one of Mister Bush's most popular measureshas been a temporary cut in federal income taxes. Now Mister Bushwants Congress to make the tax cuts permanent.

At his urging, Congress passed a health care law for olderadults. He says the new law helps forty million people buymedicines. Congress also approved his program meant to improveeducation in public schools. Mister Bush signed an order liftingbarriers to ties between the government and organizationsestablished by religious groups. He supports a Constitutionalamendment to bar marriages between people of the same sex.

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VOICE TWO:

Democratic Party candidate John Kerry was born in Colorado innineteen forty-three. He completed studies at Yale University innineteen sixty-six. That year, he joined the United States Navy.

Mister Kerry was wounded and won honors for his service in theVietnam War. But, like President Bush, Mister Kerry's militaryservice has been criticized.

Some men who served in Vietnam say he lied about some of hisactions. But the Navy says it acted correctly in approving andawarding the honors.

Mister Kerry began to question the Vietnam War after his militaryservice ended. He helped lead other former soldiers in opposingAmerica's part in the conflict. He asked Congress: "How do you ask aman to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

VOICE ONE:

John Kerry received a degree in law from Boston College innineteen seventy-six. He became a lawyer for the Massachusetts stategovernment. Then he served two years as lieutenant governor of thestate.

Mister Kerry was first elected to the United States Senate twentyyears ago. He is now serving his fourth term. In the Senate, MisterKerry has become known for his interest in the environment. Forexample, he opposes oil drilling in the Arctic National WildlifeRefuge in Alaska. President Bush supports it.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Kerry voted to give President Bush the power to declarewar against Iraq. But the Senator criticizes the way the Iraqiconflict has been fought. More than one thousand Americans have diedin Iraq since the war started in March of last year. Many Iraqicivilians also have been killed. Mister Kerry talked about the warin Iraq:

KERRY: "You gotta be able to look in the eyes of families and sayto those parents, 'I tried to do everything in my power to preventthe loss of your son and daughter.' I don't believe the UnitedStates did that. And we pushed our allies aside."

President Bush has defended American actions in Iraq. He saysthey are needed to fight the war against terrorism. The Presidentalso has expressed great satisfaction that Iraqis are free of acruel dictator.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Kerry says the United States should be recovering fasterfrom a period of weak economic activity. He denounces the growth ofthe national debt under Mister Bush's leadership.

President Bush talked about his economic record:

BUSH: "We delivered historic tax relief, and over the past threeyears, America has had the fastest growing economy in theindustrialized world."

President Bush also says he wants young workers to place some ofthe taxes on their pay in private retirement accounts. John Kerryopposes this idea. Mister Bush opposes most operations to endpregnancies. Mister Kerry supports a woman's right to have such anabortion. His position is in disagreement with his religious group,the Roman Catholic Church.

VOICE TWO:

Recent public opinion studies show that support is divided evenlybetween George W. Bush and John Kerry. Experts say the election inNovember will be very close. Some people say this will be the mostimportant election in recent times.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICAin VOA Special English.