US:JOHN McCAIN is struggling in a number of key states won by George Bush in 2004 as voters say Barack Obama would better handle the economy, according to new polls published hours before last night's presidential debate in Nashville.
Mr McCain is trailing by three points in Ohio, which Mr Bush won by a small margin last time, and he is tied with Mr Obama in North Carolina, which backed the president by a 12-point margin four years ago. In Indiana, which Mr Bush won by 21 points, Mr McCain is just five points ahead, according to the CNN/Time magazine poll.
Mr McCain's troubles in battleground states come as independent voters are starting to swing behind Mr Obama, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. Two weeks ago, the same poll showed independent voters favouring Mr McCain by 13 points, but now they are backing Mr Obama by a margin of four points. The poll gives Mr Obama a six-point national lead as voters say they are "more reassured" by the way he responded to the crisis on Wall Street.
The two campaigns continued to hit one another hard with tough new ads accusing each candidate of dishonesty.
"He's out of ideas. Out of touch. And running out of time. But, with no plan to lift our economy up, John McCain wants to tear Barack Obama down," the Obama ad says.
"Why? McCain's own campaign admits that if the election is about the economy, he's going to lose. But as Americans lose their jobs, homes and savings, it's time for a president who'll change the economy."
The McCain campaign accused Mr Obama of hypocrisy for calling on Missouri law enforcement authorities to crack down on misleading ads.
"How hypocritical," the ad says.
"Obama's social security attack was called 'a falsehood'. His healthcare attack . . . 'misleading'. Obama's stem cell attack . . . 'not true'. Barack Obama. He promised better. He lied."
Campaigning in Florida yesterday, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin accused Mr Obama of distorting Mr McCain's healthcare plan.
Ms Palin stuck up for the Republican healthcare agenda during a fund-raising lunch in Jacksonville, Florida. "Every middle-class American family will have a $5,000 credit to buy the healthcare you choose. Barack Obama is calling that a tax? That's not a tax, that's changing healthcare for the better," she said.
Ms Palin also claimed that the Democrat candidate was trying to alarm older voters in Florida by suggesting that Mr McCain would cut social security pension benefits.
"No presidential election cycle is complete without the Democratic candidate coming down here to Florida to try to stir up fear and panic on this issue," she said.
"And if you expected any better from the guy who promised to get rid of 'old-style politics', you're in for a disappointment - because Barack Obama has exploited this issue the way he exploits so many others."