The Republican National Committee accuses Mr. Kerry of being "for higher taxes and against tax cuts" and "extreme on abortion."

Republicans roared back on Tuesday, accusing Mr. Kerry of "smear tactics" for saying the president should answer questions about his service record.

It may provide ammunition to Republicans, who have accused Mr. Kerry of ties to special interests.

In that debate, Mr. Bush accused Mr. Kerry of proposing major new programs without the money to pay for them.

More specifically, the Republicans have accused Mr. Kerry of trying to kill the very weapons that are essential to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the Republican National Committee sent out e-mail messages accusing Mr. Kerry of changing his stands on major issues.

The administration promptly retaliated with a television commercial accusing Mr. Kerry of favoring a 50-cent rise in the gasoline tax that would cost the average family $657.

The president also accused Mr. Kerry of changing his mind on the question of whether Iraq is part of the war against terrorism.

The Bush campaign quickly fired back, accusing Mr. Kerry of hypocrisy.

Finally, on Wednesday, the president began to respond, accusing Mr. Kerry of making "wild charges" and of "denigrating the action of our troops."