Obama battles in Republican territory

In the US presidential contest's final frenzied weekend, a confident Barack Obama promised to heal America's political divisions while rival John McCain fought to hold on to Republican-leaning states and pledged to score a historic upset.

For Obama, it was a time for soaring rhetoric and forays deep into Republican territory, buoyed by record campaign donations and encouraging poll numbers. "We have a righteous wind at our back," he said on Saturday of his bid to become the first black American president.

For McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war, the weekend was his last chance to persuade voters to defy the polls and sweep him into office.

"We're a few points down but we're coming back," he told supporters in Virginia. "I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for it and you're going to fight with me."

Obama on Saturday campaigned in Nevada, Colorado and Missouri, all states that voted for President George W. Bush four years ago, while McCain struggled to keep Virginia from voting for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time since 1964.

Both candidates were backed by armies of supporters manning phone banks, handing out brochures and spinning journalists as the campaigns made their final push in a race that carried a price tag estimated at $2 billion.

McCain's hopes hinged on winning all or nearly all the states that carried Bush to victory in 2004, and possibly carrying Pennsylvania to give him a margin for error in America's state-by-state system of choosing a president.

Obama hammered away at his campaign themes, promising tax breaks for families, lower health care costs and an end to the Iraq War.

Obama leads by 6 points

Obama's lead over McCain firmed marginally to 6 points with support for both candidates steady before tomorrow's US presidential election, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released yesterday.

Obama leads McCain by 50 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the three-day national tracking poll, up from a 5-point advantage on Saturday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

"There are two full days to go before Election Day and obviously anything can happen, but it is hard to see where McCain goes from here," pollster John Zogby said.

He said the polling data over the weekend showed that both candidates appeared to be consolidating support among their core supporters - women and independents for Obama, older voters and conservatives for McCain.

National opinion polls all give the lead to Obama, who also appears to be outflanking McCain in a number of the battleground states that will end up deciding the election.

The poll showed Obama well ahead among voters who had already participated in early balloting, leading McCain in this group by 56 percent to 39 percent.

Women and independent voters, groups that are expected to play an important role in this election, continue to back Obama although his margin is not as wide as it was late last month.

Obama enjoys an 8-point lead among women voters and a 10-point lead among independents.

McCain continues to hold a strong lead among white voters, 54 percent to 40 percent, and among voters who identify themselves as members of the "investor class," who support him by a 9-point margin.

In a new ad out yesterday, Obama highlights Vice-President Dick Cheney's support for McCain.

The ad opens by touting Obama's recent endorsements from investor Warren Buffett and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, then cuts to video of Cheney from an event on Saturday in Wyoming.

An announcer says McCain earned Cheney's support by voting with the White House 90 percent of the time, adding, "That's not the change we need."

Cheney has some of the lowest approval ratings of any national political figure.

Agencies

(China Daily 11/03/2008 page8)