UPDATE: Cheney says: Vote for Bush and we won't get attacked again; Vote for Kerry and we will get attacked again. That sounds less like premonition a

 Mr. Bush’ running mate, Vice President Dick Cheney, stepped up his criticism of Mr. Kerry’s leadership by telling a small audience in Des Moines that if voters choose Mr. Kerry as president, the nation would be vulnerable to another terrorist attack.

 “It’s absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we’ll get hit again and we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States,” Mr. Cheney told about 350 supporters at a town-hall style meeting, according to The Associated Press.

 The Kerry-Edwards campaign immediately responded, saying the vice president’s remarks amounted to “scare tactics.”

 “Dick Cheney’s scare tactics crossed the line today, showing once again that he and George Bush will do anything and say anything to save their jobs,” Mr. Edwards said in a statement. “Protecting America from vicious terrorists is not a Democratic or Republican issue, it’s an American issue and Dick Cheney and George Bush should know that.