It's not over yet, Obama warns 'cocky' supporters
Barack Obama has urged his supporters to work “like our future depends on it” as the race for the White House focused on a few crucial battleground states at the start of its final week today.
Mr Obama, who unveiled his “closing argument” of hope yesterday, has established more than a seven-point lead over his Republican rival John McCain in the latest average of national polls by RealClearPolitics.com.
But Mr Obama has repeatedly warned anyone feeling “cocky” that the race is far from over and Mr McCain insists he has the Democrats right where he wants them.
Yesterday, it emerged government agents had broken up a plot to assassinate Mr Obama and kill 88 black people, 14 by decapitation, in a murder spree in the state of Tennessee.
Two men have been charged in connection with the plot.
Today, Mr Obama will be in Pennsylvania, where he has a commanding 11-point lead, before moving to Virginia, where he is leading by almost eight points.
Yesterday, the 47-year-old Illinois senator told voters in Canton, Ohio, that the election was about hope and a “brighter tomorrow”.
“And don’t believe for a second this election’s over,” he said. “Don’t think for a minute that power concedes. We have a lot of work to do; we have to work like our future depends on it in this last week, because it does depend on it this week.
“If you’ll stand with me, and fight with me, and give me your vote, then I promise you we will not just win Ohio, we will win this general election and together we will change this country and we will change the world.
“Let’s get to work.”
He went on: “In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.
“In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change it needs.
“After 21 months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he’d do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy.
“Senator McCain says that we can’t spend the next four years waiting for our luck to change, but you understand that the biggest gamble we can take is to embrace the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years.
“We can’t afford to take that risk.”
He also highlighted his rival’s negative campaign attacks and accused Mr McCain of making “a big election about small things”.
“Ohio, we’re here to say: ’Not this time; not this year; not when so much is at stake’,” he said.
Meanwhile, an image of a faltering McCain campaign came to the fore as Republicans started apportioning blame even before the race was over.
Mr McCain’s surprise choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin would be central to any post-mortem and McCain campaign aides have accused her of acting “like a \Ddiva”, contradicting the campaign’s official stance in public, and “positioning herself for her own future” in the 2012 Republican presidential primary contest.
Yesterday, at a press conference in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr McCain aimed to strengthen his economic stance and said Mr Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Harry Reid represented “a dangerous threesome” for America.
The Democrats could establish a filibuster-proof majority in the US Senate if they win nine seats on November 4. They are also widely expected to retain control of Congress’ lower house, the House of Representatives.
