Obama wipes out McCain's Florida lead

US: US presidential contest: voters identify economy as most important issue, writes Denis Staunton in Washington.

BARACK Obama has gained ground on John McCain in key battleground states, wiping out the Republican's lead in Florida and trailing by just one point in North Carolina, according to a new CNN/Time poll.

The poll comes as other surveys show Mr Obama regaining his national lead over Mr McCain as the impact of Sarah Palin's selection as the Republican running mate appears to fade.

The CNN poll puts Mr Obama ahead by two points in Ohio and by three in Wisconsin, with Mr McCain leading by six points in Indiana. It shows the two candidates in a dead heat in Florida, with 48 per cent each.

Mr Obama's poll surge follows days of aggressive Democratic campaigning aimed at portraying Mr McCain as out of touch on the economy, which voters identify as the most important issue in the campaign.

A University of Wisconsin analysis found that 77 per cent of Mr Obama's ads in the past two weeks have been negative, compared with 56 per cent of Mr McCain's.

The two campaigns clashed yesterday over a Spanish-language ad in which Mr Obama linked Mr McCain's views on immigration to those of right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

"They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance," the ad's announcer says as a picture of Mr Limbaugh appears on screen with quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out".

"John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote and another, even worse, that continues the failed policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families."

Mr McCain's campaign hit back, pointing out that the Republican braved the hostility of his party's base to back comprehensive immigration reform while Mr Obama backed Senate amendments that killed a bipartisan immigration Bill.

The McCain ticket came under friendly fire yesterday when Nebraska Republican senator Chuck Hagel said that Ms Palin lacked foreign policy experience and called it a "stretch" to say she was qualified to be president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Mr Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald.

"You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times