Lee?s Summit (Montana) Sept. 30 (Reuters): Tammy Hough is a life-long Republican, a socially conservative stay-at-home mother and a woman who puts American security as a top priority, so many pundits see her vote as an easy one for President George W. Bush. But she?s not so sure.

Even though she voted for Bush four years ago and finds little compelling about Democratic contender John Kerry, the 37-year-old Hough has doubts this time round. ?Usually I vote Republican but this election I?m really torn,? Hough said, one arm encircling her 2-year-old son during a break from browsing at a bookstore in Lee?s Summit not far from Kansas City.

Fears about terrorism, the war in Iraq that could eventually involve one or more of her four children and a shaky economy are key factors in Hough's quandary. ?I just want somebody to come in and say: ?This is what we're going to do,?? give us a clear plan for the country,? she said.

Hough's indecision, less than five weeks before the November. 2 presidential election, makes her a member of the critical swing-vote camp. Surveys indicate women make up the majority of the nation?s undecided voters and campaign observers say the decisions Hough and other women like her make at the ballot box will be critical in determining the presidential winner.

?The kind of interconnect that women have in nurturing family and community really has been touched by the war and by security concerns,? said Dave Robertson, a political science professor at the University of Missouri at St Louis.?How that will break in terms of votes is hard to know.? Missouri itself is a key swing state, one that does not traditionally favour either Republicans or Democrats. The state boasts a broad cross-section of political leanings.

Monique Baker, a 23-year-old children's developmental therapist from Sedalia, said Bush's anti-abortion views solidified her support. She also likes his tough stance on defending the country. ?It?s not that I think Bush has done a great job. I just think he is the better of the two,? she said while shopping for clothes with her nieces one morning this week. ?I like feeling like we have a President who, if something happened, would not hesitate to take care of it.?