Obama and Romney target key states
in last-minute scramble for votes Barack Obama and Mitt Romney go to
the polls neck and neck tomorrow
after a final sprint through crucial
states where the result – as in the
country as a whole – is too close to
call. Poll after poll over the weekend
confirmed it would be one of the
closest presidential elections in US
history, putting the two White House
contenders in a dead heat. The pair were neck and neck in four
swing states which are likely to
determine the winner of the White
House, according to a Reuters/Ipsos
poll. In one of the biggest prizes of the
election, Ohio, Mr Obama has a slight
lead over Mr Romney with 48 per cent
compared to 44 per cent support
among likely voters, the poll showed.
On Saturday Mr Obama had been ahead by a point in the same poll. In Florida, another big prize, Mr Obama
was on 48 per cent and Mr Romney on
46 per cent.
Rally: Mitt Romney waves to the
Republican faithful in Cleveland, Ohio,
as he pushes for votes in the crucial swing state Rally: Mitt Romney waves to the
Republican faithful in Cleveland, Ohio,
as he pushes for votes in the crucial
swing state In Virginia, Mr Obama leads Mr Romney
47 per cent to 46 per cent among likely
voters. In Colorado, the candidates
were tied. Nationally, 48 per cent said they would
vote for Mr Obama and 47 per cent for
Mr Romney. Given the closeness of the
race, it means the result is now down
to which party can ensure their
supporters get to polling stations in the ten or so ‘battleground’ states. More than 27million people have
already voted in 34 states and the
District of Columbia. So far, Democratic
voters outnumber Republicans in
Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and
Ohio. Republicans have the edge in only one swing state, Colorado, which Mr
Obama won in 2008. Both sides said they were confident of
victory as their candidates flitted
back and forth across the US trying to
fit in as many target states as
possible. But in what Republicans claimed was
an illustration of Mr Romney’s growing
popularity – and Democrats said was a
‘desperate ploy’ to stave off defeat –
the challenger has started targeting
states that were previously seen as safely pro-Obama. Yesterday Mr Romney not only
stopped off in swing states Virginia
and Ohio, but also in Pennsylvania and
Iowa, two states where Democrats
have far more registered supporters. Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Mr
Romney said the President had fallen
short of his promises and vowed the
country was ‘two days from a new
beginning’ and ‘a better future’. He told supporters: ‘We’re Americans.
We can do anything. 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.’ Making use of the presidential plane,
Air Force One, Mr Obama was able to
spend yesterday stopping off in four
battleground states – New Hampshire,
Florida, Ohio and Colorado. He has been joined in these final rallies
by Bill Clinton, who has put aside his
previous bitterness at the way Mr
Obama deprived his wife Hillary of the
2008 party nomination. Joined by Mr Clinton in front of a
roaring crowd in Concord, New
Hampshire, Mr Obama once again tried
to compare his economic policies with
those of the previous Democrat
President. He said: ‘We have come too far to turn
back now. We have come too far to let
our hearts grow faint. It’s time to
keep pushing forward.’
Israel war game On Saturday night in Virginia, Mr
Clinton attacked Mr Romney’s habit of
shifting positions on key issues, saying:
‘He could be the chief contortionist
for Cirque du Soleil.’ Despite the narrow gap separating
the candidates in most polls, Mr Obama
is clinging to a narrow lead in a
majority of swing states. Most pundits
suspect this will give him a crucial
advantage tomorrow. Attention remains focused on one
battleground state above all others.
According to the number crunchers, Mr
Romney will find it very difficult to win
the 270 votes he needs in the electoral
college that decides the victor unless he carries Ohio. But polls have shown this midwestern
state, many of whose voters rely for
jobs on a car industry which the
President bailed out, remains in favour
of Mr Obama by at least three
percentage points. More than eight in ten voters across
the globe would keep Mr Obama as
President if they had a say in the US
elections, a major poll has found. The MSN survey of more than 570,000
people in 36 countries found that only
19 per cent favoured Mr Romney. The only country that preferred him
was China, giving him 52 per cent of the
vote. In Britain, Mr Obama took 85 per
cent of the vote.