THE TELEGRAPH: New polls released suggest that the race for the White House is tightening, giving Republicans slender hope that Senator John McCain can overtake Senator Barack Obama in the final five days of the campaign.
A new poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Mr McCain closing to within three points of Mr Obama nationwide for the first time in more than month, trailing 47 per cent to 50 per cent.
A Quinnipiac University poll showed Mr Obama with a still sizeable, albeit slightly narrower lead in swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania but with Florida now too close to call.
On average, the Democrat's lead is down from the level of seven to 7.5 per cent seen for the past two weeks to six per cent.
Mr Obama and his campaign staff have persistently said the race will tighten late on, and those numbers are giving the McCain campaign encouragement that their relentless attempts to portray Mr Obama as an ultraliberal politician secretly plotting to raise taxes across the board are slowly starting to draw support.
Bill McInturff, Mr McCain's chief pollster, released a memo saying: "As other public polls begin to show Senator Obama dropping below 50% and the margin over McCain beginning to approach margin of error with a week left, all signs say we are headed to an election that may easily be too close to call by next Tuesday."
The campaign believes that the eight to ten per cent of undecided voters will tilt heavily in Mr McCain's favour. >>> By Alex Spillius in Washington | October30, 2008
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