The presidential campaign is entering a pivotal two-week period
at a boil, with Senator John Kerry and President Bush battling
over the Iraq war and the threat of another domestic terrorist
attack, making emotion-charged arguments to set the groundwork
for their first debate, on Thursday.  The intensity of
television advertisements broadcast this weekend -- a blur of
images of Osama bin Laden, Mohamed Atta and explosions on the
streets of Iraq -- signaled the campaigns' new phase and the
importance that both sides attach to the debates, aides to the
campaigns said.  Mr. Kerry, arriving in Wisconsin on Sunday for
four days of debate preparation, declared that Mr. Bush had
misled the nation about the severity of the situation in Iraq.
''He owes the American people the truth and he owes the troops
the truth,'' he said.  A senior Kerry adviser, Joe Lockhart,
laid out what Democrats said would most likely be another major
theme for Mr. Kerry leading up to the debate, as he accused Mr.
Bush of ''using the war on te