CANDIDATES PLUNGE INTO PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS.(MAIN)

Byline: DAVID ESPO Associated Press

President Bush hailed a slight decline in unemployment Friday as reason for his re-election, evidence the ``economy is strong and getting stronger.'' Not so, said Sen. John Kerry, countering that the administration's term will end with a net loss of jobs.

``The President wants you to re-elect him. For what?'' Kerry jabbed at the Republican in the White House. ``Losing jobs? Building the biggest deficit in American history?''

Buoyed by a poll showing him surging into a double-digit lead, Bush campaigned across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa, three states he lost in 2000. Kerry worked Ohio, where Bush prevailed in …