All attention turns to Ohio on final day of campaign

US president Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney are storming into the last day of their long presidential contest, mounting a final thrust before Election Day and engaging in the toughest battleground state – Ohio.

The two campaigns’ schedules left little doubt where the election would be won or lost: Obama was holding rallies in Wisconsin and Iowa. Romney is in Florida, Virginia and New Hampshire.

But the richest prize is Ohio, and today both Obama and Romney were rallying their supporters in its capital, Columbus.

Under the US system, the winner is not determined by the nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests, making these nine “battleground” states that are neither consistently Republican nor Democratic extremely important in such a tight race.

Romney and Obama are competing to win at least 270 electoral votes. They are apportioned to states based on a mix of population and representation in Congress.

That raises the possibility of a replay of the 2000 election when Republican George W Bush won the presidency with an electoral vote majority, while Democrat Al Gore had a narrow lead in the nationwide popular vote.

Nationwide polls show Obama and Romney locked in one of the closest presidential races in recent American history. But a majority of polls in the battleground states – especially Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio – show Obama with a slight advantage.

No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio.

The race was so close that the final national NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, released yesterday, showed Obama getting the support of 48% of likely voters, with Romney receiving 47%.

The final national poll from the Pew Research Centre found Obama with a three-point edge over Romney, 48% to 45% among likely voters, an improved showing that indicates the president may have benefited from his response to Superstorm Sandy.

If the election were held now, an Associated Press analysis found that Obama would be all but assured of 249 electoral votes, by carrying 20 states that are solidly Democratic or leaning his way – Iowa, Nevada and Pennsylvania among them - and the District of Columbia.

Romney would lay claim to 206, from probable victories in 24 states that are strong Republican turf or tilt toward the Republicans, including North Carolina.

Up for grabs are 83 electoral votes spread across Colorado, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin. Republicans and Democrats agree Obama seems in slightly better shape in Ohio and Wisconsin, while Romney appears to be performing slightly better or has pulled even in Florida and Virginia.

In perhaps the most interesting late-campaign development Romney has opened a last-minute gambit in Pennsylvania.

The state has voted Democrat in the last five presidential elections and has long been counted in the Obama column. Romney made his first visit to the state of the autumn campaign yesterday, taking along running mate Paul Ryan.

From the podium in Morrisville, a Philadelphia suburb, he said: “The people of America understand we’re taking back the White House because we’re going to win Pennsylvania.”

Obama’s campaign said the move in Pennsylvania showed Romney’s desperation and was linked to his diminished chances in Ohio. The Obama campaign quickly bought advertising time in the state to counter a big ad push by Romney.

It also announced that former president Bill Clinton – Obama’s most powerful surrogate – would make four campaign stops in Pennsylvania today.

Romney, who described himself as “severely conservative” during the Republican primary campaign, has shifted sharply in recent weeks to appeal to the political centre and highlight what he says was his bipartisan record as governor of Democratic-leaning Massachusetts.

Making his closing case to voters at his first stop yesterday in Des Moines, Iowa, Romney pledged, if elected, to work with Democrats to restore the American dream and bring the economy roaring back to life.

“We’re Americans. We can do anything,” he said. “The only thing that stands between us and some of the best years we can imagine is a lack of leadership - and that’s why we have elections.”

Obama had New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio and Colorado in his sights for the day.

In New Hampshire, he said he also wants to work across party lines, but he said he will not give up priorities such as college financial aid or the health care law he pushed through Congress.

“That’s not a price I’m willing to pay,” he said, a reference to Romney’s frequent pledge to dismantle the health care reform law that Republicans deride as “Obamacare”.

The two rivals and their running mates flew from state to state as the last of an estimated million campaign adverts were airing in a costly attempt to influence a diminishing pool of undecided voters.

About 30 million people have already cast ballots in 34 states and the District of Columbia, although none will be counted until Election Day tomorrow.

Nearly four million of them were deposited by Floridians, and Democrats cited unprecedented demand for pre-election day voting as they filed a lawsuit demanding an extension of available time.