McCain to visit seven cities in states in last day of campaigning as national polls show Obama's lead stretching to 11pts

By Joe Murphy
Updated: 21:00 EST, 3 November 2008

John McCain today threw himself into a final frenetic dash across America to save his bid for the presidency.

He was flying to seven cities in seven states to try to close an 11 point gap in the polls before Americans vote tomorrow.

Showing remarkable energy and resilience, the 72-year-old began the day with a midnight rally in Miami where he said: 'The pundits have written us off, just like they've done before, and my opponent is measuring the drapes in the White House.

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Still hopeful: Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain smiles as he takes the podium at the start of a campaign rally in Miami yesterday

'They may not know it, but the Mac is Back! And we're going to win this election!'

He added defiantly: 'I'm an American. And I choose to fight.'

After Florida, the former US Navy pilot was bound for Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona.

At the same time, Barack Obama was openly confident as he swept through three battleground states won by George W Bush four years ago: Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.

The Illinois senator, who has repeatedly warned his supporters against complacency, let his guard slip at a rally in Cleveland, Ohio, with rock star Bruce Springsteen attended by 80,000 people.

Real-time election results:

State-by-state: Click on the map to see the results of the election in real-time

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Star turn: Rock star Bruce Springsteen, left, on stage with U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama and his family, wife Michelle and daughters Malia, third right, and Sasha during an election rally in Columbus

'The last couple of days, I've been just feeling good,' he told the ecstatic crowd. 'The crowds seem to grow and everybody's got a smile on their face.

'You start thinking that maybe we might be able to win an election on 4 November.'

When rain dampened the rally, he said: 'It's OK, we've been through an eight-year storm. Sunshine is on its way.'

The latest polls show Obama leading in Pennsylvania, which McCain has to win, and other key states. Nationally, several major polls indicate Obama has a 7-8 percentage-point advantage.

A USA Today/Gallup poll published this found likely voters favoring Obama by 11 points over McCain, 53-42 per cent. A survey for ABC/Washington Post showed the same margin.

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Mass support: Obama greets 80,000 supporters at a rally in Cleveland Ohio last night

With the economy in turmoil and the approval levels of President George W. Bush,  Democrats look set to capture the White House and expand their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

A victory would mark a stunning rise for 47-year-old Obama, who was little known nationally before being elected as a senator from Illinois four years ago. He began running for president just two years later.

Mr McCain's campaign has tried to cast Obama as too inexperienced, too liberal and too tainted by associations with unsavory characters.

The electoral map clearly favors Obama. To be elected, a candidate must win at least 270 of the 538 electoral votes distributed to states roughly in proportion to their population.

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Trouble ahead: Republican vice presidential candidate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, right, with her husband Todd, shakes hands with supporters as she enters a campaign event at the Clermont County Fairgrounds, Ohio

In most cases, the candidate who wins a plurality of votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes.

Obama is favored to win all the states Democrats captured in 2004, when Bush defeated Senator John Kerry. That would give him 251 votes.

He is leading or tied in several states won by Bush, giving him several possibilities for reaching the 270 votes - winning a big Bush state like Ohio or Florida, or a combination of smaller ones.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said that the Democrat has expanded the electoral map by aggressively campaigning in traditional Republican states like Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.

'We did not want to wake up on the morning of Nov. 4 waiting for one state. We wanted a lot of different ways to win this election,' Plouffe said on Fox television.

McCain has to hold on to as many Bush states as possible and try to capture Pennsylvania.

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Close to victory: Obama shakes hands at a rally at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati

A defeat there, or a loss in Ohio, Florida or Virginia, would make it extremely unlikely he could collect the 270 votes.

Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, said that Pennsylvania will be 'the most important state to watch' on Tuesday.

McCain planned to return to Pennsylvania before heading home to Arizona on election day.

McCain's advisers noted that the Arizona senator has come from behind before. A year ago, McCain's campaign appeared all but dead before he rebounded to win the New Hampshire primary and go on to capture the Republican nomination.

There are still many uncertainties that could affect Tuesday's outcome - including how many traditionally Democratic voters reject Obama because of his race, whether Obama's candidacy will spark a huge boost in voting by African-Americans and young people, and which side will do the better job getting out the vote.

Also adding to the uncertainty is the early voting allowed in some states. About 27 million absentee and early votes were cast in 30 states as of Saturday night, more than ever.

Democrats outnumbered Republicans in pre-election day voting in key states.

That has Democrats - and even some Republicans - privately questioning whether McCain can overtake Obama, even if Republicans turn out in droves on Tuesday.

Obama has had a huge fundraising advantage over McCain. But McCain and the Republican Party dramatically ramped up their spending in the campaign's final days and now are matching Obama ad for ad, if not exceeding him, in key battleground states.

Together, the two presidential candidates have amassed nearly $1 billion - a stratospheric number in a campaign of record-shattering money numbers.

Depending on turnout, $1 billion means nearly $8 for every presidential vote, compared with $5.50 in 2004.

The campaigns were using the money for a crush of television ads and phone calls targeting voters in swing states.

In a new ad, Obama highlighted Vice President Dick Cheney's support for McCain. The ad features Cheney, an extremely unpopular figure among Americans, at an event Saturday in Wyoming, saying: 'I'm delighted to support John McCain.'

The Republican Party, meanwhile, rolled out battleground phone calls that include Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism of Obama during the Democratic primary. Promoting herself as the candidate with enough experience to take on McCain, she is heard saying: 'In the White House, there is no time for speeches and on-the-job training. Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign, and Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002.'

Clinton fought a tough primary battle against Obama, but is supporting his candidacy and has campaigned for him. A Clinton spokeswoman said she disapproves of the ad.

The Pennsylvania Republican Party also unveiled a TV ad featuring Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, declaring 'God damn America!' in a sermon.

During the primaries, Obama was kept on the defensive about his relationship with Wright, but McCain said he would not make the pastor an issue in the general election campaign.