By Harvey Morris and Daniel Dombey in Washington
Published: October 27 2008 18:44 | Last updated: October 27 2008 18:44
John McCain switched tack on Monday as polls predicted his presidential hopes had all but evaporated, warning voters of a “dangerous threesome” if they put Democrats in charge of both the White House and Congress.
With some polls predicting a Democratic landslide for Barack Obama next week, the Republican nominee said the election risked handing power to “the most liberal person ever to run for the presidency” and strengthening liberals who already run the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Mr McCain referred to Mr Obama, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, when he told a rally in Cleveland, Ohio: “You know, my friends, this is a dangerous threesome. They believe that $1trillion of rescue financing is not enough and have already proposed another $300bn spending spree they’re calling a stimulus plan.”
The attack on what Mr McCain describes as Democratic tax-and-spend policies came as Republicans debate how to divide their funds between the presidential contest and the wave of Congressional races that could increase the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill.
In a poll by ABC News and the Washington Post, likely voters as a whole favour Democratic control of Congress, but among independents only 37 per cent favour that party against 45 per cent who would rather see Republicans win control. A similar margin of independents would prefer a divided government to one party controlling both the White House and Capitol Hill.
“If current trends continue we will continue to have a Democratic Congress,” Mr Obama said at the weekend. “We need a president who can mobilise Congress to actually get something done, instead of continuing the gridlock that we’ve seen over the last eight years.”
As the candidates tracked each other on Monday in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Mr Obama gave what campaign aides described as his “closing argument” speech on the need for change.
Foregoing any predictions but sounding increasingly confident as next Tuesday approaches, Mr Obama told a rally in Canton, Ohio: “In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.”
On Republican charges that he would pursue a partisan liberal agenda, Mr Obama said: “We need to get beyond the old ideological debates and divides between left and right. We don’t need bigger government or smaller government. We need a better government.”
Mr McCain, who trails by double digits in polls on who would best handle the economy, presented an economic team that included Meg Whitman, the eBay founder, and Massey Villareal, a leading Hispanic Republican.
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