COLUMBUS, Ohio -The frenzied pre-election atmosphere was kicked up another notch yesterday as a battle of celebrity endorsers broke out in the hard-fought contest between President Bush and Senator Kerry of Massachusetts.

During stops in Wisconsin and Ohio the Democratic nominee sought to energize his followers by taking the stage alongside a singer with strong working-class appeal, Bruce Springsteen. Mr. Kerry was also joined by a former astronaut and senator, John Glenn.

Mr. Bush is to counter today by appearing here with an action-movie star who is now one of the nation’s most popular governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Mr. Bush plans to stump for votes tomorrow in New Hampshire flanked by a member of the Boston Red Sox team that just brought New England its first World Series title since the Wilson presidency, Curt Schilling.

Mr. Springsteen’s presence drew crowds several times larger than those typically seen at Mr. Kerry’s speeches. Last night, tens of thousands of people gathered on a lawn at Ohio State University to listen to Mr. Springsteen and hear from Mr. Kerry.

An electrical problem delayed the rally by more than an hour, but those in the audience cheered wildly as Mr. Springsteen performed two songs that he said had special resonance for Mr. Kerry’s campaign, “Promised Land” and “No Surrender.”

Mr. Springsteen, a New Jersey native known as “the Boss,” also offered a spoken tribute to Mr. Kerry. “He’s a got an adult view of America and her people,” the singer and songwriter said. “He’s got life experience, and he understands that we as humans are not infallible.”

Mr. Springsteen argued that Mr. Kerry would do a better job than Mr. Bush at addressing issues such as health care, hunger, and homelessness. “Our current administration has failed,” the musician said. He also alluded to Mr. Kerry’s musical talents and those of President Clinton, saying, “We’ve had a sax player. It’s time to get a guitar player in the White House.”

Mr. Kerry returned the tribute, calling Mr. Springsteen one of America’s “minstrel poets.”

“I’m grateful for his taking time to put his celebrity on the line for our country,” the senator said. “The people he sings about are the people I’m fighting for.”

Analysts said the celebrities were unlikely to attract additional voters for either candidate and probably weren’t invited for that purpose.

“This is not about winning voters,” the editor-in-chief of a political newsletter, Chuck Todd, said. “You’re holding your final organizational meeting and you just happen to have a really cool guest speaker.”

Mr. Todd, who edits the Hotline, said campaign workers are sometimes taken directly from such rallies to neighborhood campaign offices, where they are put to work in grassroots voter turnout efforts.

The close association with the rich and famous is not, however, without peril, particularly in these Midwestern states, which are home to many morally conservative voters. Mr. Kerry could underscore perceptions in some quarters that he hobnobs with stars and lacks a common touch.

At five of his last six campaign speeches, Mr. Bush has hit Mr. Kerry on just that point.

In Pontiac, Mich., on Wednesday, the president said, “At one point in this campaign you might remember that my opponent said, the heart and soul of America can be found in Hollywood.” The crowd of Republican faithful quickly erupted in a chorus of boos and hisses, prompting Mr. Bush to add, “I understand most American families do not look to Hollywood as a source of values.”

It seems unlikely that Mr. Bush will include such criticism in his speech today when he campaigns with Mr. Schwarzenegger, whose signature films feature copious amounts of gore and violence.

A leading political observer in California, Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, said she expects Mr. Bush will say Mr. Schwarzenegger was invited because he is governor of the nation’s most populous state, and not because he is a Hollywood icon. She predicted the White House will “take refuge in the fact that Arnold is no longer a – quote – celebrity and movie star.”

In recent days, Mr. Schwarzenegger has seemed downright defensive about his plans to campaign with Mr. Bush. In interview after interview he has stressed that he would not travel widely with the president and would appear only in Ohio. Mr. Schwarzenegger has a business interest in bodybuilding competitions that take place regularly in Columbus.

Ms. Jeffe said Mr. Bush is unpopular with most California voters and Mr. Schwarzenegger is keenly aware of that. “He understands that he can’t be seen too close to the president if he really does want to keep his options open to run again,” she said.

Mr. Todd said some in the GOP are tired of seeing Mr. Schwarzenegger’s public struggle with his decision about whether to pitch in during the final days of the presidential contest.” Some Republicans, they really want him to stop talking about it,” the Hotline editor said. “They wish he would stop giving interviews about how he is not ex cited about campaigning for Bush.”

While harnessing the Boss’s star power, Mr. Kerry also sought to tie his political fortunes to those of his hometown baseball team. When he appeared at a rally yesterday morning in Toledo, the senator was wearing a somewhat ill-fitting Red Sox cap.

“They said John Kerry won’t be president until the Red Sox win the World Series,” the Democratic candidate said. “Well, we’re on our way. We’re on our way.”

In Suggesting that Mr. Bush’s economic policies have devastated America, the senator said in Columbus: “If you really wanted to bring Iraq to its knees, all you had to do was send the Bush economic team over there to do the job.”

Mr. Kerry implied that Mr. Bush lacks the intellectual capacity needed to be president. “We need a president of the United States who can do more than one thing at the same time,” the senator said.

The Democratic nominee also mocked the president’s repeated statements in one of the debates that his job requires “hard work.”

“Mr. President, I am ready, willing, and impatient to relieve you of that hard work so we can do what we need to do for America,” Mr. Kerry said. As he concluded his speech last night, he confidently pumped his fist in the air.