Democrat Barack Obama has expanded his national lead over Republican John McCain in the US presidential race to 10 points, according to a poll released today.
Mr Obama leads Mr McCain 52 per cent to 42 per cent among likely US voters in the latest three-day tracking poll carried out by Reuters/C-Span/Zogby. The figure is up from an eight-point advantage for Mr Obama yesterday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Mr Obama focused on the ailing economy in Florida yesterday, accusing Mr McCain of fumbling his response to the financial crisis.
Mr McCain made a campaign visit to Pennsylvania, where some polls show him trailing his rival by double digits with just two weeks to go before the November 4th election, and questioned Mr Obama's readiness for the White House.
At a gathering that included former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and a group of key swing-state governors, Mr Obama again linked Mr McCain with the policies of President George W. Bush.
"Instead of common-sense solutions, month after month, they've offered little more than wilful ignorance, wishful thinking and outdated ideology," Mr Obama told supporters in the key swing state of Florida before a public discussion with the panel at his "economic summit."
For the second consecutive day, Mr McCain noted the weekend prediction of Mr Obama's running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, that an international crisis would test Mr Obama's mettle during his first six months in office.
"We know Senator Obama won't have the right response," the Arizona senator said in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. "We've seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign."
The Republican candidate and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, have aggressively tried to raise doubts about the first-term senator from Illinois as the campaign heads into its final two weeks with polls showing Mr Obama in the lead.
"I want a president who's ready on Day One," Ms Palin told supporters in Reno, Nevada. "I want a president with the experience and the judgement and the wisdom to meet the next international crisis - or better yet to avoid it."
Mr Obama aides said Biden was merely stating the obvious - that any new US president will face a crisis.
At a later campaign stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the former Navy fighter pilot recalled serving on an aircraft carrier during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
"My friends, you know how close we came to a nuclear war? America will not have a president who needs to be tested. I've been tested," Mr McCain said.
Reuters