The US presidential race is tied going into the major parties’ national conventions and Democrat Hillary Clinton has been damaged by the FBI investigation into her email use while secretary of state, a new opinion poll showed.

Hillary Clinton pushed to show she can be popular with younger voters after students told her they failed to connect with her.

SENATOR John Kerry has erased US President George W Bush’s modest lead and the two candidates head into election day tied at 49%-49%, a nationwide USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll shows, as an extraordinarily bitter and expensive campaign prepared to end.