Republican presidential nominee John McCain today raised the prospect of a complete Democratic takeover of Washington as a reason to elect him over Democrat Barack Obama in 10 days.
Mr McCain, struggling to defend New Mexico and other Western states that typically vote Republican from falling for Obama on November 4th, used the argument to try to change a gloomy election picture.
Mr Obama holds a commanding lead in national opinion polls and leading in several key battleground states that Mr McCain needs to win.
At an Albuquerque rally, Mr McCain accused the Illinois of seeking to raise taxes on most Americans, particularly small businesses responsible for much of the hiring during a severe economic downturn in which hundreds of thousands of jobs have been shed.
Mr Obama says his plan to tax Americans making more than $250,000 would allow a tax cut for 95 per cent of Americans.
Mr McCain said having Democrats in control of the White House, the US House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Senate under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, would give Democrats unfettered power.
Riding Americans' desire for a change from the Bush administration, Democrats appear poised to make major gains in the House and Senate.
"Senator Obama's tax increase would put even more people out of work," Mr McCain said. "We've seen this before in other countries. It doesn't work. The answer to a strong economy is not higher taxes."
"But that is exactly what's going to happen if the Democrats have total control of Washington. We can't let that happen. Are you ready for Obama, Pelosi and Reid?" the Arizona senator said.
Mr Obama was returning to active campaigning after taking a break to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. Dead in his sights were the Western states McCain needs: Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.
He had rallies scheduled in Reno and Las Vegas in Nevada, Albuquerque and the Colorado cities of Denver and Fort Collins.
Mr Obama's lead over Mr McCain fell slightly to 9 points, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released today, the second consecutive day the race has narrowed.
Mr Obama leads Mr McCain by 51 per cent to 42 per cent in the rolling three-day tracking poll, which has a margin of error of 2.9 points. Mr Obama led by 10 points on Friday and 12 points on Thursday.
Pollster John Zogby said Mr McCain, who had seen his Democratic rival stake out a widening lead as economic issues dominated the campaign, appeared to be winning some converts with his own economic message.
"He scores points when he differentiates himself on the economy and when he lays off the negative. Negative campaigning is not working for anyone this year," Zogby said.
"What's important here is that this race is not over."
Mr Obama (47), has led many national opinion surveys in recent days as well as in polls in important battleground states where the November 4th election will be likely be decided.
But Zogby said the 72-year-old Mr McCain over the past two days had been able to cut into the Illinois senator's main base of support among women and independent voters, a shift that coincided with his campaign's move to highlight differences between the two candidates' economic policies.
Women, who backed Mr Obama by 20 points yesterday, now give him a 16-point lead, and his lead among independents had fallen to 16 points from 26.
Zogby said that while the poll showed only 3 per cent of voters remained totally undecided in the race, that number grew to about 16 percent if one included voters who were only leaning toward or moderately inclined to support a particular candidate.
"That means that more people have not completely made up their minds," Zogby said.
Mr McCain's support was strongest among white voters, who backed the Arizona senator by 49 per cent to 43 per cent.
Mr Obama, who would be the first black president, won 92 per cent support among black voters and 70 per cent among Hispanics.
Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr held relatively steady at 2 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.
The rolling tracking poll surveyed 1,203 likely voters in the presidential election. In a tracking poll, the most recent day's results are added, while the oldest day's results are dropped to monitor changing momentum.
The US president is determined by who wins the Electoral College, which has 538 members apportioned by population in each state and the District of Columbia. Electoral votes are allotted on a winner-take-all basis in all but two states, which divide them by congressional district.
Reuters