Obama drums up record war chest

BARACK Obama has announced a record $150 million fundraising bonanza for September, leaving him awash with cash for the final fortnight of presidential election campaigning.

The amount is nearly three times the senator's previous record, and is close to double the amount of John McCain's entire campaign budget.

Mr Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said the campaign had added 632,000 new donors in September, making a total of 3.1 million contributors to the campaign. The average donation was $86, he said.

News of the fundraising record came as President Bush's former secretary of state, Colin Powell, announced that he was endorsing Mr Obama, praising the senator as a "transformational figure".

Mr Powell, the first African American to serve as both chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and as secretary of state, said he was crossing party lines because he was convinced Obama has the right message.

"I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation (sic] coming onto the world stage, said Mr Powell yesterday.

The endorsement bolsters the one key issue where Mr Obama is seen as weaker than Mr McCain, that of national security.

Mr Powell also joined the growing chorus of criticism about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's suitability for high office.

"Now that we have had a chance to watch her for seven weeks I don't believe she is ready to be president of the United States which is part of the job of the vice-president," he said.

"I am beyond honoured and deeply humbled to have the support of General Colin Powell," Mr Obama said. "General Powell has defended this nation bravely, and he has embodied our highest ideals through his long and distinguished public service.

"And he knows, as we do, that this is a moment where we all need to come together as one nation – young and old, rich and poor, black and white, Republican and Democrat."

The September haul has boosted Mr Obama's fundraising total to $605 million, a campaign war chest far larger than any seen in US presidential contests.

In contrast, Mr McCain must adhere to a limit of $84 million, the Republican nominee having opted to take public funding.

It is thought that this extraordinary outpouring of public giving could doom the taxpayer-paid system. Many Republicans have begun to question McCain's decision to participate in the programme.

But Mr Obama's cash pile has presented him with a problem because TV networks do not have enough slots between now and election day to take all the commercials his campaign wants to air.

Along with his record funds have come record crowds to hear him speak: more than 100,000 turned up this weekend in St Louis, capital of the swing state of Missouri.

Even the senator seemed surprised by the crowd, telling them: "What a magnificent day the Lord has made."

Meanwhile, across America, the Democrat effort to garner votes has gone into overdrive

– the campaign is funnelling more than a million volunteers into the canvassing and registration of record numbers of new voters in swing states.

The situation in New York is instructive. There is little campaigning here because the state is as safe for Democrats as Texas is for Republicans, so every weekend convoys of cars take party volunteers to canvas in neighbouring Pennsylvania.

David Gergen, a former White House adviser, said: "This has put new pressure on John McCain, all these things are happening: (the] Powell endorsement; he gets 100,000 people in Missouri; $150 million has come in the door in one month, it's like a crescendo."

Yet for all this momentum, Mr Obama's lead over his rival remains narrow, with Mr Obama dropping below his 50-plus ratings of last week.

A Gallup poll put him only two points ahead of his rival. A CNN poll yesterday was more generous, putting Mr Obama on 49 per cent to Mr McCain's 43, with 8 per cent undecided.

However, the presidential contest is not decided by the nationwide popular vote, but is instead a state-by-state contest to win electors who are apportioned according to state population.

An Associated Press analysis shows Mr Obama with the advantage in states representing 264 electoral votes – just shy of the 270 needed for victory. Mr McCain is favoured in states representing 185 votes, with six states totalling 80 electoral votes up in the air.

Having tried and failed to gain traction with character attacks on his rival, Mr McCain has now switched to concentrating on Mr Obama's tax plans.

Campaigning in North Carolina this weekend, the Arizona senator reminded voters of Mr Obama's comment last week to Joe Wurzelbacher – "Joe the Plumber" – that he planned to tax the rich and give money to the middle-class.

"We learned Senator Obama's economic goal, as he told Joe, is to 'spread the wealth around'," said Mr McCain in Concord, North Carolina.

"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront with their objectives."

And later, he told Fox News: "I think his plans are for redistribution of wealth. That's one of the tenets of socialism."

This criticism may gain traction in a country where socialism is a dirty word, equated with both Communist dictatorships and with the desire of Big Government to separate Americans from their hard-earned cash.

'There is a sense of foreboding – some hope for divine intervention'

OUT in the red United States heartland, conservatives are singing the blues.

With poll after poll showing Barack Obama widening his lead, core Republicans are concerned – but some say the Democrat candidate's success is actually helping to galvanise the party's conservative Christian base in the so-called red states that are considered Republican strongholds.

"We have a sense of foreboding about what it looks like right now… It certainly doesn't look good right now," said Barry Creamer, the host of a talk show on a conservative Christian radio station in Dallas, Texas.

"I get this sense from my callers. Some have a sense of resignation but prayerful hope for divine intervention. But most of them just have more passion because they want to intervene, they want to do something," he said.

Other hosts of talk radio – a staple of US conservative culture – have tried to rally the troops. "They're trying to depress you; they're trying to dispirit you; they're trying to make you think… that the election is finished," talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh said last week in reference to polls showing Mr Obama with a commanding lead.

With the election more than two weeks away, a lot can happen, and some conservatives say they are not giving up, even with polls suggesting Mr Obama's fortunes are rising with the sinking economy. "I don't believe it's over until it's over," said Ron Osborne, a Southern Baptist pastor in a suburb north of Dallas. "I'm not completely sold on the idea of a McCain loss, but there are indications it is heading that way."

For many conservatives, an Obama presidency combined with a Democratic Congress is a nightmare. They see guns being taken away, abortion rights expanding and taxes rising.

"There is a concern over an Obama presidency and the prospect of that further motivates people," said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a Washington-based conservative lobby group with strong evangelical ties.