John Kerry kept his presidential hopes alive last night with a points victory in the first head-to-head debate with President Bush.

The Democratic challenger upset the form book with a crisp and firm critique of the war in Iraq while Mr Bush was repetitive and at several moments appeared hesitant.

Mr Bush was also seen by millions of television viewers scowling and looking occasionally ill at ease while Mr Kerry was talking. By contrast, Mr Kerry showed little emotion, taking notes while Mr Bush spoke.

A snap poll by ABC News of 500 swing voters gave the contest to Mr Kerry by 45 per cent to 36 per cent with 17 per cent regarding it as a tie.

From the outset Mr Kerry took the fight to Mr Bush, declaring that only he could win the war in Iraq and bring American troops home. He promised "a fresh start, new credibility".

The topic for the 90-minute showdown was foreign affairs and national security, Mr Bush's supposed strong suit.

But Mr Kerry accused his opponent of making a "colossal error of judgement" by switching the focus of the war on terror from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein.

He said Mr Bush had let bin Laden go by "outsourcing the job" of pursuing him in the Tora Bora mountains to Afghans, also a subtle reference to the loss of American jobs overseas.

And the Massachusetts Senator, derided by the Bush campaign as a hopeless waffler, produced most of the most effective one-liners of the night.

He said of Mr Bush: "He's got 10 times the number of troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden is. Does that make Saddam Hussein ten times more important than Osama bin Laden?"

Mr Kerry conceded that Saddam posed a threat, but added: "That's not the issue. The issue is what you do about it." He added: "If the President had shown patience we would be in a stronger place today."

The Democratic challenger also dealt succinctly with the largest albatross around his neck, his infamous explanation that he had "voted for the $87 billion [to reconstruct Iraq], before I voted against it".

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