Bunning continued his own bus tour with a swing through Republican strongholds in southern Kentucky.

Bunning, who is seeking a second term, aligned himself with President Bush in the fight against terrorism.

With the election just a week away, Mongiardo claimed he had seized the momentum.

He drew prolonged cheers from a standing-room-only crowd of several hundred at a United Auto Workers hall in South Louisville.

"About eight months ago, we were down by 24 points.

"People said there's no chance we can win," Mongiardo said.

"But you know what?

"I was talking to people across this state, and it was clear that the senator we have today is not getting the job done for the working men and women."

The Courier-Journal's Bluegrass Poll published Sunday showed that Mongiardo, a state senator and doctor from Hazard, had closed to within 6 percentage points, down from 17 points behind Bunning a month earlier.

Bunning was joined in campaign stops by two Kentucky colleagues - U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and U.S. Rep. Harold Rogers. They credited Bunning with a key role in getting Congress to approve a quota buyout for tobacco farmers and for getting benefits for sick uranium plant workers.

"This guy's an effective senator for Kentucky, and we need to keep him," McConnell said.

Bunning said that Bush has provided "great leadership" in the war on terror. Bunning also made a pitch to supporters of Bush and Rogers, who is unopposed for re-election.

"Hal Rogers is going to get an unbelievable vote, and George Bush is going to get an unbelievable vote, and I'm sitting between them," Bunning said. "So just go in and punch the right button and we'll be just fine."

Meanwhile, Mongiardo supporters at the union hall chanted "Dr. Dan" and waved signs that included "Bench Bunning," a reference to the incumbent's days as a baseball pitcher.

Terry Thurman, a regional UAW leader, called Bunning a "do-nothing" senator with a "terrible voting record for working men and women."

Mongiardo said families have been strapped by rising costs for health care, college tuition and gasoline.

He said Bunning has ignored those issues and instead resorted to a negative campaign meant to smear Mongiardo's reputation.

"He has no answers to all these issues, but we do," Mongiardo said. "And on Nov. 2, we are going to take those answers to Washington, D.C."

Mongiardo was accompanied by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who said that Mongiardo - an ear, nose and throat surgeon - would bring expertise to help cure the nation's health care problems.

"When you entered the race a year ago, you were a longshot, but these days you're looking more like Seabiscuit or Smarty Jones," Harkin said.

Harkin also waded into tobacco buyout politics.

The Iowa senator said he offered an amendment during the final negotiations that would have given Kentucky farmers and quota-holders an extra $490 million. His proposal also would have reduced the length of those payments to seven years from 10, but also included giving the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power over tobacco.

Harkin said that Bunning opposed his proposal.

"Was that in the interests of Kentucky and Kentucky farmers," Harkin asked, which drew a resounding "no" from the audience.

Speaking to about 150 people in Somerset, McConnell said Bush supporters should stand with Bunning as well.

"If you're supporting George Bush ... it makes absolutely no sense not to vote for George Bush and Jim Bunning, because Jim Bunning will be with George Bush every step of the way," he said.

Pulaski County Sheriff Todd Wood ushered the Mongiardo supporters off to one side and chided them when they heckled Republican speakers.

"They don't want to hear the truth," said Crockett Anderson, an unemployed restaurant manager who blamed the Bush administration, Bunning and other Republican leaders for job losses across the country. "They don't want to listen to facts. We're having factories shut down, businesses shut down, and Bunning has done nothing to stop the job losses."