Spotlight turns to Ohio and Pennsylvania

BARACK OBAMA and John McCain were locked in a last-ditch fight for the key industrial states of Ohio and Pennsylvania yesterday as the race to the White House race appeared to be tilting to the Democratic candidate.

The Illinois senator was canvassing in the three biggest cities in the showdown state of Ohio, and launched an advertisement emphasising ties between Republican McCain and unpopular vice-president Dick Cheney.

“I’m delighted to support John McCain,” Cheney says in the advert, shot at a campaign event on Saturday in Wyoming. He also praises McCain’s running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. “That’s not the change we need,” the advert’s announcer said.