McCain leaves the arena with a bloody nose

Barack Obama and John McCain exchanged barbed comments on each other's policies, judgment and character in the third and final presidential TV debate.

Trailing in the polls by 14 per cent, Mr McCain came out fighting from the first question and accused Mr Obama of being a "class warrior" as they clashed on tax proposals.

He also took him to task over his links with a Sixties radical and accused him of trying repeatedly to link him to the failed policies of President Bush.

"I am not President Bush," said Mr McCain forcefully. "If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."

But despite Mr McCain's aggressive tone he failed to land a knockout blow during the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

A snap poll by CBS TV at the end awarded victory to Mr Obama by a 2-1 majority. The poll of undecided voters gave the edge to Mr Obama by 53 to 22 per cent, the biggest margin by which he has won any of the debates.

Mr McCain had started the debate trailing 14 points in the national polls. Political experts said he would have had to come up with a "game changer" to reverse the trend that has Mr Obama coasting to the White House.

While Mr McCain won plaudits, few analysts said he had managed any surprises. "John McCain turned in an energetic, focused and, at times, emotional performance," said political analyst Vaughn Ververs. "But he needed something more in order to change the underlying dynamics of this race.

"Obama was solid, on-message and mostly mistake-free. McCain may have righted the ship to some extent, but time is running out for him to make up ground."

ABC TV political expert George Stephanopolus said Mr Obama had made a "clean sweep" by winning all three televised debates.

Both men said the $700 billion banking bail-out put forward by President Bush was not enough. Mr McCain said Americans were "hurting" and "angry" and that they are the innocent victims of greed on Wall Street.

"We've got to put the homeowners first," he said, proposing buying out 11 million mortgages of families struggling to meet payments. Mr Obama countered that his plans would mean 95 per cent of the country would not face a tax increase.

Mr McCain accused Obama of being a "class warrior" as he disputed his figures and quoted a man known as Joe the Plumber who told Mr Obama that his tax plans would stop him running a small business. Mr McCain said Obama was denying people like Joe the "American dream".

Mr Obama denied his tax plans would hit the middle class in America. "Nobody likes taxes," he said. "But ultimately we've got to pay for the core investments necessary for the economy. If nobody likes taxes, let's not raise anybody's, OK?" Mr McCain retorted with a laugh.

Mr McCain demanded to know the full extent of Mr Obama's relationship with William Ayres, a Sixties terrorist. Mr Obama insisted he had condemned Ayres's "despicable" acts and he had only served on a school board with him.

On abortion, Mr McCain accused Mr Obama of being out of touch with the "views of mainstream America" by refusing to oppose legislation aimed at late-term, or partial-birth, abortion.

"Obama as a member of the Illinois State Senate, voted against a law that would provide immediate medical attention to a child. He voted present on another vote where he voted against a ban on partial birth abortion. I don't know how you vote present on some of that. That's his record, and that's a matter of his record."

Mr Obama said he opposed legislation calling for a ban on late-term abortions because there was no exception to protect the life of the mother.

"If it sounds incredible that I would vote to withhold life-saving treatment from an infant, it's because it's not true," he said. "I support a ban on late-term abortions as long as there's an exception for mother's health and life, and there was no exception. That was rejected and that's why I voted present. I'm willing to support such a Bill as long as there's that exception."