20 DAYS TILL ELECTION: With the final debate near, President Bush attended a fund-raiser in Phoenix on Tuesday and repeated his label of Sen. John Kerry as the Senate’s “most liberal member.” In New Mexico, Kerry prepared for Wednesday’s debate and took a break for a bike ride.
KEEP THE FAITH
Catholic Answers, an independent group based in El Cajon, Calif., plans to distribute 3 million copies of its voter’s guide, which doesn’t endorse a presidential candidate but urges Catholics to shun those who favor “evil” policies such as abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research–both of which are supported by a Catholic named John Kerry.
THE BALLOT BOX
Despite the uproar over hanging chads and spoiled ballots in 2000, three-quarters of the nation’s voters will use the same machines this time as they did in 2000.
VERBATIM
Jay Leno during his “Tonight Show” monologue on Monday: “Besides being Columbus Day, this is also Indigenous People’s Day celebrating Native Americans. And today John Kerry told Native Americans he has a plan for withdrawing troops from America.”
BY THE NUMBERS
11-8
Kerry’s lead over Bush in newspaper endorsements so far, according to The Washington Post.
———-
For updates and more on the campaign, go to chicagotribune.com




