US:DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL candidate Barack Obama has opened up a commanding lead in Minnesota over Republican John McCain, according to a new Star Tribune Minnesota poll. The poll, conducted last week among 1,084 likely voters, found that 55 per cent support Mr Obama, while 37 per cent back Mr McCain, writes Denis Staunton in Nashville
That is a huge rebound for Mr Obama from the last Minnesota poll, conducted in September, which showed the race dead even, with each candidate backed by 45 per cent of likely voters.
As the campaign took on a more harsh personal tone in its final four weeks, with Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", the Democrat launched an ad describing John McCain as "erratic in a crisis".
Mr Obama and Mr McCain meet in Nashville tomorrow for their second presidential debate as polls show the Democrat gaining in battleground states as the Republican retreats.
Campaigning in Colorado on Saturday, Mrs Palin said "the gloves are off, the heels are on" and that Mr Obama's associations with controversial figures is fair game. The New York Times reported on Saturday that Mr Obama had played down his links to William Ayers, a former member of the 1960s urban guerrilla group the Weather Underground, although the paper concluded the two men were not close.
The Weathermen targeted the Pentagon and the Capitol for bombings in the late 1960s but charges against Mr Ayers, who is now a professor of education in Chicago, were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct. Mr Ayres held a fundraiser for Mr Obama at his home in the 1990s and the two men have served together on charitable boards.
"This is not a man who sees America as you and I do - as the greatest force for good in the world. This is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country," Ms Palin said of Mr Obama.
The Obama campaign dismissed Mrs Palin's remarks as an attempt to distract attention from the economic crisis that has helped to drive down the Republican ticket's poll numbers.
"The very newspaper story Governor Palin cited in hurling her shameless attack made clear that Senator Obama is not close to Bill Ayers, much less 'pals', and that he has strongly condemned the despicable acts Ayers committed 40 years ago, when Obama was eight. What's clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy," said Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan.
The McCain campaign has made clear that it plans to adopt a tougher tone in the remaining weeks of the campaign, highlighting doubts about Mr Obama's character and his association with people such as Mr Ayers and the Democrat's former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Mr Obama is getting tougher too, launching an ad today that uses the economic crisis to highlight alleged flaws in Mr McCain's character.
"Three quarters of a million jobs lost this year. Our financial system in turmoil. And John McCain? Erratic in a crisis. Out of touch on the economy," the ad says. "Struggling families can't turn the page on this economy . . . and we can't afford another president who's this out of touch."
Former Republican strategist Karl Rove said yesterday that, if the election were held now, Mr Obama would win, holding all the states John Kerry won in 2004 and picking up enough new states to put him over the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. "This race is susceptible to rapid changes and we're likely to see, in the remaining four weeks, more changes," he said.