In their final debate before Saturday's decisive runoff, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell argued about which of them is responsible for the negative tone of the campaign and which of them has run a campaign most consistent with "Louisiana values."

With a new poll showing the race a dead heat, Landrieu and Terrell didn't waste any time telling viewers why each could do more for Louisiana than her opponent and continuing the personal attacks that have dominated the runoff campaign.

Only when pressed to say something positive about each other during the hourlong WWL-TV debate did the candidates offer some compliments: Terrell said Landrieu has done a great job promoting adoption, and Landrieu said Terrell had demonstrated a willingness to compete in an election system dominated by men, and had obviously done a good job raising her three teenage daughters.

But the candidates spent a good deal of the debate rehashing issues raised in a series of television ads that have dominated the airwaves the past two months.

Repeating an allegation made in an advertisement sponsored by the Louisiana Republican Party, Terrell said Landrieu "has lost touch with Louisiana" on the "important moral issues" facing the United States. She said, as an example, Landrieu had voted to allow schools to distribute the morning-after abortion pill without parental approval.

Landrieu responded that the charge is a "bold-faced lie," typical, she said, of the Republican attack ads that began in July. The vote that the state Republican Party ads refers to, Landrieu said, was a vote to allow states to set their own rules on the pill, a vote that allowed Louisiana to ban distribution of the abortion pill -- a position that she fully supports.

Republican Party organizations have spent $10 million on ads "attacking my family and my faith," Landrieu said, and even suggested that the senator opposed President Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut when in fact she was one of 12 Democratic supporters, she said. She urged voters to "close their ears" and instead focus on her "real record," which she said is that of a moderate senator who has worked effectively with Republicans and Democrats to reform public education, increase flood control financing for Louisiana and provide important support for the military.

Terrell said Landrieu is trying to make herself "out to be the victim," when in fact, it is her record that has prompted the critical ads, because she is more liberal than most state residents. Terrell, quoting from a recent Washington Post story in which Landrieu said she was hardly on speaking terms with soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, said the next Louisiana senator will have to work directly with Lott to get things done for Louisiana.

But Landrieu said Terrell has indicated that she would be a rubber stamp for Bush administration policies, both the good and the bad, including a plan to privatize Social Security that Landrieu says would take $1 trillion out of the system in transition costs alone.

On Iraq, both candidates expressed support for military action, even if the United States has to go it alone. Landrieu said she hopes the president would not move unilaterally if the current weapons inspections turn up nothing, although she said the chances of that happening are slim. Terrell said she believes Bush and his advisers would not commit to military action unless they have solid information that Iraq poses a threat to the region, and the entire world.

On what to do about the stalled national economy, Terrell advocated making Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut permanent, saying it would give businesses the long-term stability they need to make permanent job-creating investments. Landrieu said while she supported the tax cut, the best way to stimulate the economy is with a payroll tax reduction that would provide every American with $750 to $1,500, as well as other programs designed to give people more cash flow, including an extension of unemployment insurance and an increase in the minimum wage.

On abortion, Terrell said she is unapologetically against it and would support an amendment barring abortion, although she said anti-abortion forces might have to settle for incremental progress, allowing some exceptions to a ban on the procedure in order to get an amendment through Congress. Earlier in the campaign, she expressed opposition to all federal financing for family planning. When asked Monday about that stance, Terrell said as a practicing Catholic she recognizes the Catholic position against contraceptives. But she added that such decisions should be made between families and their doctors.

Asked if she is "pro-choice," Landrieu said she doesn't think such a label is either important or relevant to the debate. She said on a personal level she considers abortion to be wrong, and she believes government should do more to promote adoption and other alternatives. But she said she cannot support a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, which would subject women and their doctors to criminal prosecution, even if they decide on an abortion as the only way to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape and incest.

Both candidates tried to portray the other as captive to out-of-state special interests. Terrell said that when she started her campaign, with only a tank full of gas and a 7-year-old automobile to her name, Landrieu had already assembled more than $6 million in special-interest contributions.

But Landrieu said Terrell has brought in most of the Republican national leadership to campaign for her, and taken donations and benefited from attack ads sponsored by national GOP organizations and other groups affiliated with her party.

On taxes, Landrieu said she is being portrayed in an ad, sponsored by Americans for Job Security, a group that refuses to list its donors, as voting against a repeal of a Social Security tax on senior citizens who earn outside income. Landrieu said passage of that legislation would have devastated the Medicare system that senior citizens rely on, and that the vote was scheduled by Republicans just so "they could run 30-second attack ads in future campaigns."

On negative ads, Landrieu conceded that a Democratic Party-sponsored ad may well have exaggerated in suggesting that Terrell paid $1 million more for election machines than a lower bid received by the state, saying the difference could be closer to $300,000. Later, she said she would ask the Democrats to pull the ad if in fact it contains an exaggeration. Terrell said she has tried to stay positive in the campaign, but defended some of her campaign's negative ads as necessary to differentiate the candidates' records.

Boggs backs Landrieu while Bush stumps for Terrell

By GUY COATES

The Associated Press

Lindy Boggs, the former congresswoman from New Orleans who also served as the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, endorsed the re-election campaign of Democratic incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu on Tuesday.

The announcement came as the Landrieu campaign did its best to hold public attention while President Bush stumped for Republican challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell in Shreveport and New Orleans.

Bush was greeted by thousands of boisterously cheering supporters in Shreveport as he touted Terrell's campaign promise to support his move to make his tax cut legislation approved last year permanent.

"There is one in the Senate race willing to say she will join the president, listen to the people and make the tax cuts permanent. That person is Suzie Terrell," Bush said, drawing wild cheers and applause.

Bush also peppered his remarks with lines aimed at deflecting some of the criticism Terrell and Republicans have received from various quarters.

"We want to make sure we've got local control of our schools in America," Bush said. It was an apparent reference to Republican Gov. Mike Foster's fears that the Bush administration will not allow Louisiana to go ahead with its own school accountability system, which differs in some ways from the federal plan.

Bush also received hearty applause when he said he wants to accelerate federal construction projects -- a major concern in northwestern Louisiana, where communities want to see the extension of Interstate 49 to the Arkansas state line.

The energetic crowd obviously boosted Bush's spirits. "I'm glad I came," he said as he surveyed the crowd.

It was an obvious boost to a campaign in a race that pollsters say is too close to call.

Trying to hold some of the spotlight, Landrieu announced the endorsement from Boggs, a highly popular congresswoman from New Orleans.

"I have known Lindy Boggs since I was just a young girl and I am so grateful to have her support today," Landrieu said in a news release.

Boggs, in the same news release, called Landrieu "an independent voice putting Louisiana ahead of partisan politics." It was in keeping with Landrieu's campaign theme that Terrell would be a "rubber stamp" for Bush's policies.

Boggs served as ambassador to the Vatican from 1997 to 2001. She was the first woman elected to the U.S. House from Louisiana and served there for 17 years. She went to the House, after her husband, longtime Congressman Hale Boggs, disappeared in a small plane over Alaska in 1972.

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While Terrell welcomed Bush to a rally in Shreveport, saying he "restored integrity" to his office, Landrieu was heading for meetings with sugar growers and dock workers -- two groups that say they have suffered because of Bush initiatives.

At the Port of New Orleans, Landrieu will address the issue of Bush's increase in taxes on imported steel, which opponents say has cost dockworkers' jobs. The possibility that the administration will allow more sugar imports is also under fire in Louisiana because of its possible affect on sugar growers.

In remarks prepared for the events, Landrieu took pains to separate herself from many Democrats, as well as the Republican administration. "Unlike many in the Democratic Party I have generally been a proponent of free and fair trade," she said.

She said she supported the North American Free Trade Agreement to expand trade with Latin America. "However special interests in Washington are pushing an acceleration of NAFTA with no warning to Louisiana sugar growers," she said.

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Bush wasn't the only Republican official traveling to Louisiana to back Terrell. Congressman J.C. Watts, R-Oklahoma, was scheduled to campaign for Terrell on Tuesday night in Lake Charles.

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A University of New Orleans poll released Monday showed Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu and Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell in a dead heat in their race for the U.S. Senate.

In the survey of 700 registered voters statewide, 44 percent said they would vote for Landrieu, 43 percent said they would vote for Terrell and 13 percent were undecided. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

As other analysts have said, the UNO pollsters predicted that the election's outcome would depend on the number of blacks who vote and the percent of white voters who choose Landrieu.

The poll showed a sharp split along racial lines. Terrell had 56 percent of the white vote to 31 percent for Landrieu, while Landrieu had 75 percent of the black vote to 10 percent for Terrell.

The abortion issue also split voters, with Landrieu getting 55 percent of votes from those who said abortion should always be legal. Terrell took 61 percent of voters who said abortion should never be legal. Terrell took 58 percent and Landrieu 31 percent of those who said abortion should sometimes be legal.

White people who identified themselves as Independent said they would vote for Terrell by 52 percent to 31 percent. Pollsters said the strong Independent response for Terrell was likely connected to President Bush's popularity and the Republican victories across the country in the Nov. 5 elections.

The poll was conducted between Nov. 24-27. Twenty-nine percent of the people responding to the poll were black, 55 percent were female.

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The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune, the state's largest newspaper, endorsed Landrieu on Sunday. Landrieu also has the endorsement of The (Shreveport) Times.

The (Alexandria) Town Talk and The (Natchitoches) Times have endorsed Terrell.

The (Monroe) News-Star and The (Lafayette) Advertiser had not endorsed a candidate by Monday. The (Baton Rouge) Advocate does not issue political endorsements.

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Terrell was joined on the campaign trail Monday by former President George H.W. Bush, who spoke briefly at the Monroe Airport. Elizabeth Dole, a former presidential candidate and incoming Senator from North Carolina, was due at a Terrell fund-raiser in Monroe Monday night.

Other national GOP figures to have campaigned for Terrell in Louisiana are Vice President Dick Cheney and Trent Lott, the incoming Senate majority leader. President George W. Bush was due in Shreveport and New Orleans for Terrell functions on Tuesday.

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Landrieu spent Monday campaigning in Acadiana. She spoke to officials of small oil and gas companies at the Petroleum Club in Lafayette. Later Monday, she was due to meet with supporters at Eunice Poultry, a local chicken processing plant.

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The Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus called upon Terrell to clarify her position on hate crimes legislation Monday.

Though Terrell has recently said she would oppose hate crimes legislation, she voted twice during her tenure on the New Orleans City Council to support such legislation, the group said in a news release.

"So which is it Ms. Terrell? Do you stand on your record of being a moderate pro-choice, pro-gay candidate? Or have you taken the route of political expediency by embracing far-right religious fundamentalists who oppose equality for Louisiana's Gay community?" LAGPAC Chairman Christopher Daigle said in the release.

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