STRONGSVILLE, Ohio (AFP) — A flurry of new polls in vital White House battlegrounds Tuesday showed Democrat Barack Obama getting a clear boost from the financial crisis as voters blame Republicans for the meltdown.
Fresh Quinnipiac University surveys in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin put Obama ahead, exactly six weeks from election day, and offered troubling warning signs for Republican John McCain.
But the Arizona senator sought to land fresh blows on the economy in the heartland, touring a vast, dusty construction project and a factory which makes nuclear power plant supplies in another battleground, Ohio.
"I know that a lot of eyes have been on Wall Street and Washington for the past week as we all process the credit crisis," McCain said, accepting the endorsement of a local construction union in Strongsville, outside Cleveland.
"But I want the people here in Ohio to know that I have not forgotten the economy on Main Street," McCain said.
McCain vowed to create employment with pro-growth economic policies, and argued that Obama's plans would result in higher taxes and "kill jobs."
The latest poll average by RealClearPolitics.com gives McCain a 1.8 percent edge in Ohio, a microcosm of the US electoral map with urban areas which lean Democratic and suburbs and country regions which are more conservative.
Ohio is a vital state in any route to the White House, and was decisive in 2004 in returning President George W. Bush to power, at the expense of Democrat John Kerry.
Obama was meanwhile hunkered down in Florida, always a focal point of any candidate's bid to win over swing voters, to prepare for Friday's first high-stakes presidential debate clash in Mississippi.
The new sheaf of Quinnipiac polls offered the latest sign that Obama's advantage over McCain on the economy and his strategy of tying his rival to unpopular President George W. Bush may be paying off.
In Colorado, Obama leads McCain by 49 to 45 percent. Last month, the Republican was up by one point in Colorado, 47-46 percent in the Quinnipiac survey.
In Michigan, which has been badly hit by the flight of blue-collar jobs overseas, Obama leads McCain 48 to 44 percent, compared to 46-42 percent on July 24.
In Minnesota, Obama held a two percentage point lead of 47 to 45 percent, compared to 46 to 44 percent in late July.
In midwestern Wisconsin, Obama led by 49 to 42 percent, although his advantage has narrowed from 50 to 39 percent in July.
"With a lousy economy, an unpopular war and an even less popular Republican president, it's difficult to find voters who don't want change," said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's polling institute.
"The Wall Street meltdown while these polls were in the field probably fed the public desire for change and seemed to benefit Senator Obama," Brown said.
Obama is widely perceived as the candidate of change in the four key states, by 19 to 24 point margins, Quinnipiac said.
Voters in all four battlegrounds said the economy was the top issue in the November 4 election and in three of the four states said Obama was better equipped to handle it.
In Minnesota, voters were equally split on which candidate best understands the economy (45 to 45 percent).
McCain was stumping in Ohio and was set to move on to Michigan on Tuesday as his vice presidential pick Sarah Palin was taking her first steps onto the international stage on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The Alaska governor was set to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and former US secretary of state and foreign policy guru Henry Kissinger.
Democrats complain Palin lacks foreign policy experience and the meetings, and more world leader encounters planned for Thursday, will offer her ammunition for her vice presidential debate with Democrat Joseph Biden on October 2.
Obama was preparing in Tampa, Florida, a swing district in a swing state, with top aides for Friday's debate on foreign policy, which provides a golden chance for each candidate to land a heavy blow.
"It's a challenging debate for us," Obama's senior strategist David Axelrod said, starting the game of downplaying expectations ahead of the clash.
"Senator McCain has repeatedly made the point about his extensive foreign policy experience."
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