Obama leads in 3 key states

Leesburg (Virginia), Oct. 23: US presidential hopeful Barack Obama played up his foreign policy credentials while John McCain highlighted national security, as a poll on Thursday showed the Democrat hanging onto his lead in three key states.

Less than two weeks before the November 4 election, Mr Obama made gains in Ohio while his Republican rival chipped away only slightly at the Democrat’s edge in Florida and Pennsylvania, the survey by Quinnipiac University found. As each candidate strove to highlight his opponent’s weakness, the survey indicated swing state voters favour Mr Obama on the economy by margins of eight to 19 points, and Mr McCain on foreign policy by margins of two to six points.

Mr Obama, flanked by top veteran military officials in Virginia on Wednesday, portrayed Mr McCain as "out of touch and running out of time," after rejecting new Republican jibes on his plans for taxes and national security. But Mr McCain warned the Democratic Illinois senator not to take victory for granted, despite his mammoth financial edge and solid lead in a slew of opinion polls.

Mr Obama is scheduled to take time out from the campaign trail on Thursday in order to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii.

Mr McCain also returned to his attack on recent comments by Democratic vice-presidential pick Joe Biden.

—AFP