Kerry, speaking at an unusual midnight rally here shortly after Bush formally accepted the Republican nomination for president at his party's convention in New York, launched his most outspoken attack yet on his rival.

"I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and who misled America into Iraq," said the senator from Massachusetts, a decorated Vietnam War veteran.

With Kerry and Bush running neck-and-neck in the campaign for the November 2 vote, the Demo-cratic candidate was the target of relentless attacks at the four-day meeting of the Republican faithful.

At a speech late Wednesday, Cheney held Kerry up to ridicule and said he had consistently "made the wrong call on national security."

Kerry replied: "The vice president called me 'unfit for office' last night. Well, I'm going to leave it up to the voters to decide whether five deferments makes someone more qualified than two tours of duty."

Kerry earned three Purple Hearts for wounds and a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for valor serving on a gunboat in Vietnam while Bush was in the Texas Air National Guard. A series of draft deferments kept Cheney out of military service.

The vice president has said "other priorities" stopped him from going to Vietnam.

"Let me tell you in no uncertain terms what makes someone unfit for office and unfit for duty," Kerry continued. "Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes you unfit to lead our country.

"Doing nothing while this nation loses millions of jobs makes you unfit to lead this country," he said. "Letting 45 million Americans go without health care for four years makes you unfit to lead this country.

"Letting the Saudi royal family control the price of oil for Americans makes you unfit to lead this country."