McCain is 'just a Bush clone ... it's like Robin getting mad at Batman'

Barack Obama today launched his "closing arguments" in an attempt to make his lead over John McCain unbeatable.

The Illinois senator focused on the economy and attacked his Republican rival as a clone of George W Bush.

Mr McCain fought back by accusing the Democrat front-runner of looking complacent and arrogant. The former Vietnam war hero said his rival was already "measuring the drapes" of the White House.

Six weekend national polls showed Mr Obama ahead by margins of five to eight points. And the average of polls in the seven closest-fought states found him ahead in each.

A 100,000 crowd, a record for this election, cheered Mr Obama at a rally last night in Denver, in Colorado - a state that backed Mr Bush four years ago but where Mr McCain is trailing by six points. "We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch to John McCain," he told them.

Seizing on a McCain comment in a TV interview yesterday that he shares the same "philosophy" as Mr Bush, Mr Obama said his rival was finally telling the truth. Earlier, at a rally in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, he described Mr McCain's closeness to the President as: "It's like Robin getting mad at Batman".

He added: "John McCain hasn't been a maverick. He's been a sidekick when it comes to George Bush's economic policies."

Throughout his campaign Mr Obama has bashed away at linking Mr McCain to Mr Bush and cited records that show the Arizona senator has voted 92 times in support of president.

For today's speech, the Obama campaign moved to Ohio, seen as a clincher if he can hold a lead now standing at 49.9 per cent to 43.8.

A speech preview statement from the Obama HQ said: "After 21 months and three debates, Senator McCain still has not been able to tell the American people a single major thing he'd do differently from George Bush when it comes to the economy."

Mr McCain denied he was falling further behind, declaring: "I believe that I'm going to win."

The rivals were expected to spend most of this week in seven states where the votes are close: Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Missouri and North Carolina.