Governor lends a bit of muscle to the fight

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the action movie star turned Governor of California, was set to give John McCain some fire power on the campaign trail yesterday, as aides to his rival Barack Obama predicted a "ferocious" last four-day dash to the finishing line in the US presidential election.

For the second day in a row, Mr McCain was pouring his energies into Ohio, a state he cannot afford to lose. On Thursday, he sought to energise crowds there by sharing the stage with a certain Joe Wurzelbacher – better known as Joe the Plumber – but aides hoped that having Mr Schwarzenegger, still highly popular in the party, at his side at a rally in Columbus last night would prove more helpful still.

Intent on giving Mr McCain a Halloween scare, the Obama campaign said it was rolling out TV spots in his home state of Arizona, amid signs that even there the race may be tightening. A similar blitz was set for Georgia and North Dakota, states that traditionally vote Republican in presidential races.

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But focused on stirring voter unease about Mr Obama's taxation plans, the McCain camp continues to insist that Ohio is winnable for them, even though most polls this week have shown Mr Obama padding his lead in the state to an average of 5 points or more. "I have been in a lot of campaigns and I can feel the momentum," Mr McCain insisted to supporters in Mentor, Ohio.

There was some good news for Mr McCain. A poll for Politico suggested he had closed the gap in two other contested states. It showed the two rivals tied at 48 per cent each in North Carolina, while it gave Mr McCain 50 per cent in Missouri against 47 for Mr Obama.

"We're pretty jazzed up about what we're seeing, and the movement in this election," Rick Davis, the McCain campaign insisted. "We are witnessing, I believe, one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary."

But Mr Schwarzenegger admitted earlier that winning on Tuesday would be "a very tough uphill battle" for the Republican. "I can't want until this election is over because I can finally go back into my bedroom," he joked, hinting to marital strife with his wife, Maria Shriver, who is backing Mr Obama.

David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, said yesterday the last lap of the race were sure to be "ferocious". He noted also that early voting data, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans in many states, is already sketching the outlines of what to expect next week. Mr Obama was due last night to address a late-night rally in Indiana, a state that hasn't voted for a Republican president since 1964 but which this year looks like a toss-up. The senator was to arrive after diverting briefly to Chicago to go trick-or- treating with his two young daughters.

Thereafter, the Democratic hopeful was to zigzag without pause across the country in search of votes until polling stations open on Tuesday. This as a new AP-Yahoo poll last night suggested that as many as one in seven voters were still undecided between the two candidates. Mr Obama and his entourage were set to visit Nevada and Colorado in the west today before back-tracking to the Midwestern states as well as Florida, North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday and Monday.

The new advertising effort in Arizona was not a frivolous luxury, Mr Plouffe insisted. "We think things are tightening in Arizona," he said. The Obama campaign was celebrating the smashing success of its Wednesday night infomercial, at least in audience terms. More people tuned in to watch the half-hour segment than for either the final game of the World Series or the final of American Idol. "I was shocked by the number Obama was able to draw," said Leslie Moonves, head of the CBS network.

The risk never goes away that unwelcome news headlines may pop up. The Democratic camp was yesterday trying to douse a brief brush fire ignited by reports that Mr Obama had made contact with Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Illinois and alumnus of the Bill Clinton White House, about serving as his chief of staff if he wins next week. The McCain campaign decried the move, painting Mr Emanuel as a fierce partisan who would polarise politics in Washington.

Concerned about appearing over-confident, Mr Obama told reporters that he was too busy trying to win the election to worry about who is chief of staff may be.