Tough road ahead for McCain campaign

A handout picture obtained yesterday from Freerange Communications shows clay head moulds of US presidential candidates Senator John McCain (L) and Senator Barack Obama at Madame Tussauds Studios in London. To be certain the new US President is ready to take up office at Madame Tussauds London come inauguration day in January the studio team has been working on wax figures of both candidates. Clay models of Barack Obama and John McCain are nearing final completion and the winning candidates clay sculpture will be used to make the moulds to create a full wax figure as soon as their Presidential status is confirmed on 4th November.Photo: AFP

While Republican John McCain revels in the role of the underdog and castigates pundits for writing him off in the race to the White House, his campaign is working frantically for a final comeback.
With less than two weeks left before the November 4 election, polls show a tough road to victory for the Vietnam war veteran on an electoral map awash in Democratic blue.
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's lead among likely voters reached 14 points in a poll published by the Pew Research Center Tuesday while surveys show the Illinois senator ahead in most battleground states.
Experts say the key to a McCain comeback lies in winning over independents and white, working class voters who are conservative on issues like national security and supported Obama's former foe Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
McCain campaign insiders insist that the public polls do not paint an accurate picture of the race, and that states like working-class Pennsylvania, where Obama is leading by eight to 10 points in recent surveys, are still winnable.
The campaign has attracted large numbers of volunteers who are placing thousands of phone calls every day to their fellow Democrats, DuHaime said, adding that a sophisticated tracking and call-back system will help improve turnout and sway fence-sitters.
"Senator Obama has yet to close the deal with voters," DuHaime said.
"He's a great campaigner and a great speaker but is he ready right now to be president? There are lingering doubts."
Senior McCain advisor Nicole Wallace said there was still plenty of time left to sway voters by "making clear that the choice between Barack Obama and John McCain has a very significant impact on our nations' economic health."
"It's an uphill battle to spread the message. We're vastly outspent," she told AFP.
But voters who do hear the message will choose someone who "believes in creating wealth and spreading success like John McCain does," Wallace said.
"The vast majority of Americans do not believe that we grow our economy by redistributing wealth."
A key part of McCain's multi-prong attack against his rival has been to tell voters that Obama is a shifty, job-killing socialist bent on "redistributing wealth."
McCain has warned voters that Obama lacks the experience or judgment to lead the country "in this dangerous world," and stressed his own love of country, with his campaign slogan "Country First."