Republican presidential candidate John McCain appears to have reined in his campaign's aggressive strategy against Barack Obama after it failed to cut into his Democratic rival's lead.
After a week in which he and Sarah Palin fiercely attacked Mr Obama and inflamed supporters by urging them to question his fitness to be president, the Arizona senator switched to a milder tone, calling on frustrated loyalists to respect the Illinois senator.
Supporters appeared surprised by his conciliatory approach, booing at a Minneapolis rally when he told a sceptical backer that Mr Obama was a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared (of) as president of the United States."
On Monday, Ms Palin had told a joint rally with Mr McCain in Florida: "I am just so fearful that (Obama) is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America."
Critics say that line was especially pointed because of its potential subtext: Mr Obama (47) would be the first black president and his background, including part of a childhood spent in Indonesia, is different from that of most Americans.
A Newsweek poll published yesterday gave Mr Obama an 11-point lead over his rival at 52-41 per cent. A month ago this poll had the two candidates tied at 46 per cent. Other polls in the most contested states have also shown a swing toward Mr Obama.
Mr Obama praised his rival for trying to tone down the vitriol of the US presidential race but pressed ahead with an effort to cast the Republican as out of touch on the economy.
Touring neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Obama thanked McCain for having tried "tone down the rhetoric of his town-hall meeting."
"I'm one who believes that we can all respect each other, even when we disagree, especially when it comes to a veteran of our wars because those folks lay down their lives to protect us," Mr Obama said, referring to McCain's service in Vietnam, where the Republican endured torture as a prisoner of war.
Pushing a line of attack that seems to have helped him build an advantage, Mr Obama said Mr McCain "doesn't really seem to get what's going on" with the financial crisis that has prompted deepening anxiety about the economy.
He mocked a McCain adviser for telling reporters amid a week of panic-selling on Wall Street that he didn't think it made sense for the campaign to speak daily on the markets.
The campaign should not become a "CNBC news show on the stock market," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis, according to Politico magazine.
"I can't imagine a situation where on a daily basis the campaign would put out a statement about what the market was doing," Davis was quoted as saying during a conference call with journalists.
"Yesterday, Senator McCain's campaign manager actually said that Senator McCain wasn't talking about the market because there's just not much a candidate for president can say -- and they aren't sure what he'd say each day even if he did talk about it," Mr Obama said.
The election campaign has been overshadowed by the escalating international financial crisis, partly driven by the collapse of the US housing market. Stock markets around the world plummeted again yesterday.
A majority of Americans tell pollsters they trust Mr Obama more than Mr McCain to handle economic issues.