Obama admits to making mistake during speech

Washington: Late in the evening, towards the end of yet another speech, Senator Barack Obama wound up for a final surge of rhetoric to please the 500 people crammed into an arts studio for a fund-raiser that overwhelmed the air-conditioning system.

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas," declared the man vying to become America's first black president, his sleeves rolled up and his forehead glistening with sweat.

"Ten thousand people died - an entire town destroyed. Turns out that the National Guard in Kansas only had 40 per cent of its equipment and they are having to slow down the recovery process."

It was meant to be a choice morsel of political red meat for Democratic activists in Richmond, Virginia - an accusation that the US Army National Guard is dangerously overstretched. But as Obama quickly realised, he had committed the kind of verbal slip for which Bush has become famous.

The Illinois senator, who still trails the Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton by a sizeable margin, had dramatically overstated the death toll. In fact, 12 people had been killed by tornadoes.

"There are going to be times when I get tired," he told the crowd. "There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes."

Admission

The admission on Tuesday night was refreshingly honest. But it has fuelled fears among Obama supporters that the man hailed as a new John F. Kennedy might not have the stamina needed to survive a campaign of unprecedented intensity.

On the campaign trail, Obama can sound professorial. Much of the energy flows from his crowds rather than the candidate himself, who sometimes appears to want to damp down the tempo.