At the church, Jackson and Sharpton repeatedly assailed Bush for his policies and the contentious 2000 election, in which thousands of black voters complained that their votes were discarded. The disputed election remains a rallying cry -- particularly among black voters, who have been slow to warm to Kerry, but whose strong support could turn the Florida vote.
Kerry pledged a legal team, led by former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer,to watch for voting disparities.
''Never again will a million African Americans be denied the right to exercise their vote in the United States of America,'' Kerry declared from the pulpit, mixing parts of his standard stump speech with quotes from the Bible and religious parables.
The expressions of faith from Kerry, a Catholic, come as Republicans woo religious conservatives with social issues like abortion, limits on embryonic stem-cell research and a proposal to outlaw gay marriage. Kerry is opposed to same-sex marriage, but has been critical of Bush's effort to put a ban on it into the U.S. Constitution. ....***