Focusing on key states 

As election day looms, both candidates have begun to focus on key states which will largely determine the outcome of the electoral college votes.

In this election, five states are considered crucial.

The Republicans haven't lost Virginia in 44 years and they absolutely need Florida to reach 270 electoral votes.

The Republicans never won the White House without carrying Ohio, and the last time Missouri backed a losing candidate was in 1956.

Though a traditional Democrat-leaning state, Pennsylvania is also pivotal because McCain does have a chance there.

On Wednesday, McCain toured Florida, trying to keep the state in the Republican column as some supporters worried about whether he can catch the better-funded Obama.

Obama arranged for a show of unity by appearing with former President Bill Clinton at a late-night rally outside Orlando, Florida, Wednesday.

Clinton hailed Obama, trying to inspire Democrats already smelling victory.

According to their schedules, Obama will hold rallies in Florida, Virginia and Missouri, while McCain will spend the whole day in Ohio.

McCain still has a shot 

For McCain to win, he must hold all the states that went for President George W. Bush four years ago, which would be enough to give him 286 electoral college votes and victory.

He could even lose one mid-sized Bush state, such as Virginia, which has 13 electoral votes, and still have more than the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win.

To be sure, that won't be easy. Obama leads in many of those states, including Florida and Ohio narrowly.

And McCain doesn't have any good prospects right now for offsetting the loss of a "red" state as he doesn't lead in a single state that went Democratic in 2004.

Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University in Iowa, said McCain still has a shot.

One way for McCain is to stay on the economic message, raising doubts about whether Obama's tax increases on the wealthy would hurt the economy while trying to convince voters that his own plan is better for growth.

Of course, another way that McCain could win is if the polls are wrong, particularly if there's a so-called "Bradley effect", in which white people are overstating their support for Obama, born to a black father and a white mother, to pollsters.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2008)