Obama opens up 'several routes to victory'

Barack Obama will have several different routes to victory in the US presidential election this week, his campaign manager said today.

David Plouffe said the presidential front-runner was campaigning aggressively in states which usually vote Republican in a bid to expand the electoral map and leave him with “a lot of different ways to win this election”.

With just two days left in one of the most highly-anticipated elections in modern history, the Democratic nominee leads his rival John McCain by more than six points in national polls.

“We did not want to wake up on the morning of November 4 waiting for one state,” Mr Plouffe told Fox News Sunday.

“Here we find ourselves two days out from the election with a lot of different ways to get to 270 electoral votes.

“We do not have to pull an inside straight.”

Yesterday, Mr Obama said his campaign had “a righteous wind at our back” as he urged voters across America to help him bring change to the nation.

But actor and McCain supporter Fred Thompson predicted the Republican would come from behind on Tuesday.

“John’s a closer. He always has been,” Mr Thompson told NBC’s Meet the Press today.

“He often is given up for dead – literally and politically. People have been wrong about him before.

“I think the election has yet to be decided.”

Mr McCain also appeared on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” last night where he joked about his latest plan to win over voters.

“I thought I might try a strategy called the reverse maverick,” he said.

“That’s where I’d do whatever anybody tells me.”

If that failed, he said: “I’d go to the double maverick. I’d just go totally berserk and freak everybody out.”

Both candidates were backed by legions of surrogate campaigners, door-to-door canvassers and volunteers as they made their final rounds in a race that is estimated to have cost $2bn (€1.5bn) – the most expensive yet.

Mr Obama will focus on states which usually vote Republican in the final moments of his 21-month campaign to become the first African American president of the United States.

Even Mr McCain’s home state of Arizona, which the Republican has represented in the US Congress for 26 years, is now considered a so-called “toss-up” state and Mr Obama aired his first advert there last week.

Nationally, the two rivals will be aiming for 270 electoral votes on Tuesday - the magic number needed to propel them over the finish line and to the White House.

The latest average of polls by RealClearPolitics.com shows Mr Obama, is considered to have 238 electoral votes from states believed to be in safe Democratic hands while only 127 are considered safe for the Republicans, leaving underdog Mr McCain with an uphill battle.

A further 73 are considered to be leaning towards Mr Obama, with just five leaning towards Mr McCain.

This leaves eight “toss-up” states with a total prize of 95 electoral votes.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said Pennsylvania, which Democrat John Kerry won in 2004, would be the most important state to watch on Tuesday with its 21 electoral votes.

Ohio is another key state, with 20 electoral votes, and both considered to be leaning towards Mr Obama.

Florida is also a key battleground and its results may be among the first to be known on Tuesday night.

The Sunshine State, where both campaigns have fought a tough battle, has the largest number of the all-important electoral votes of any battleground state (27) and was won by Republican George Bush in both 2000 and 2004.

But the Obama campaign leads by 4.7 points and has spent $33.4m (€26.2m) million dollars on advertising there since January last year.

If Mr McCain was to lose all three, his presidential aspirations would be considered over. Each one is virtually a “must-win” for his campaign as he tries to come from behind in the final sprint to the finish.