Clinton-free Obama takes battle to Republican turf

WASHINGTON: Barack Obama took the US presidential battle to the enemy yesterday by beginning a two-week tour of contested states where he will seek to portray himself as a more reliable tonic for the country's ailing economy than his Republican Party rival John McCain.

With Hillary Clinton, no longer standing in his way after her official concession speech on Saturday in which she endorsed Obama and threw her support behind him, the newly crowned Democratic nominee will begin the battle against McCain in North Carolina.

The focus on the economy signals that he has identified US voters' fears over job losses and rising prices as the key potential battleground in November. A spate of bad news at the weekend underlined what the Obama campaign will portray as Republican mishandling of economic affairs.