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Barack Obama takes battle to Republican territory

Democrat Barack Obama sought support on Saturday in traditionally Republican states in the final weekend of the campaign.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 18:37 November 1, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Recent polling shows Barack Obama running ahead of John McCain in Virginia.
  • Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

Washington: Democrat Barack Obama sought support on Saturday in traditionally Republican states in the final weekend of the campaign.

Obama held onto his solid lead in the polls and appeared confident of capturing the US presidency in the historic race.

John McCain, meanwhile, was struggling to defend states like Virginia that usually have been safely locked up by the Republican candidate.

The candidates' travel plans over the weekend had them almost completely focused on states that President George W. Bush won in 2004.

"If you give me your vote on Tuesday, we won't just win this election—together, we will change this country and change the world," Obama said on Saturday as he personally delivered the Democratic Party's weekly radio address.

Obama used the radio address to restate his core campaign talking points. He said the election comes during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

He promised tax breaks for families, an end to the Iraq war, investments in renewable energy and reduced health care costs.

"At a moment like this, with so much at stake, we can't afford four more years of the tired, old, trickle-down, on your own philosophy that got us into this mess," he said.

He criticized McCain as being too closely aligned with Bush.

At a chilly rally Saturday morning in Newport News, Virginia, McCain warned supporters that Obama would seek a wide range of tax increases as president in an effort to redistribute the wealth.

"He's running for redistributor in chief, I'm running for commander in chief," McCain said to loud cheers.

Recent polling shows Obama running ahead of McCain in Virginia, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964.


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