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The two men seeking to become president of the
United States have entered the final weekend of campaigning before the
4 November election.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama still holds a poll lead, but
one new survey suggests his lead over Republican John McCain is
narrowing slightly.
Mr McCain is campaigning in Virginia and Pennsylvania before appearing on TV comedy show Saturday Night Live.
Mr Obama is holding events in Nevada, Colorado and bellwether state Missouri.
He started the day by delivering the Democratic
Party's weekly radio address, using it to talk about his economic
plans, the need to end the war in Iraq and healthcare.
"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,"
Mr Obama said.
He also sought to tie Mr McCain to the Bush administration,
saying: "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."
'Wealth redistribution'
Both candidates are visiting states seen as crucial to their chances of winning Tuesday's election.
Speaking to supporters in Newport News, Virginia, Senator McCain attacked his rival over the economy and his tax plans.
Referring to a comment by Mr Obama that he would "spread the
wealth around", Mr McCain said: "He's running for
redistributor-in-chief, I'm running for commander-in-chief."
After a lunchtime rally in Springfield, Virginia, Mr McCain will head to Perkasie, Pennsylvania, in the afternoon.
Analysts say Mr McCain needs to win in Pennsylvania - where he is behind in state polls - to have a chance.
Polls in Virginia, which has not backed a Democrat for president since 1964, show Mr Obama has pulled ahead of his rival there.
Mr Obama also has the edge over Mr McCain in Nevada and Colorado, both of which voted for George W Bush four years ago.
Missouri is seen as a vital state to win because of its record
of backing the eventual winner in almost every election since 1904. Mr
Obama leads in Missouri by a very narrow margin, polls show.
Mr Obama is extending his campaign advertising into
traditionally Republican territory over the weekend, running
advertisements in Arizona, his rival's home state, as well as Georgia
and North Dakota.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that an aunt,
Zeituni Onyango from Kenya who lives in Boston, is in the US illegally
after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years
ago. The news agency also quotes Mr Obama as saying he did not know she
was in the country.
'Coming back'
As the candidates focus on battleground states, last-minute
preparations are being made for Tuesday's vote, the BBC's North America
editor Justin Webb reports. Polling officials are expecting some 130 million Americans to vote -
a turnout which would prove higher than in any election since 1960.
Security is of most concern in Chicago, Mr Obama's base, where
up to one million people are expected to turn out in the city centre
for what they hope will be a White House victory for the Illinois
senator.
But Mr McCain is remaining defiant, playing on his status as
the underdog and telling supporters on Friday night that he would still
make a late run to victory.
He was boosted by the support of California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who gave a rousing speech in the swing state of Ohio.
The ex-film star said Mr McCain was a real "action hero" who
had spent more time as a prisoner of war than Barack Obama had served
in the US Senate. "We're closing, my friends, and we're going to win in Ohio," Mr McCain told the Ohio crowd.
"We're a few points down but we're coming back and we're coming back strong."
In a new poll Reuters/Zogby poll released on Saturday, Mr
Obama's lead was down to five percentage points, at 49% to Mr McCain's
45%. The gap had narrowed from 7% in the previous survey.
Mr Obama warned supporters to expect a hard fight until the very end of the campaign.
"We are four days away from changing the United States of America," he said.
Our correspondent says that while the McCain camp claim their
candidate is just four points behind in the national polls, his problem
is that in many states that he has to win, he is further behind.
No Republican has ever been elected without winning Ohio,
Justin Webb adds, and John McCain appears to be five points adrift
there at the moment.
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