US election at-a-glance: 29 Oct

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

Both candidates campaign in Florida, Barack Obama with former president Bill Clinton. Mr Obama airs a 30-minute advert on prime-time TV. Sarah Palin delivers a speech on energy policy.

KEY QUOTES
"If there's a Pulitzer prize category for excellence in kowtowing, the LA Times wins."
Sarah Palin attacks the Los Angeles Times for its refusal to release a video of Barack Obama attending a party for a Palestinian-American Professor

"By the end of the week, [John McCain] will be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten."
Barack Obama

"The question is whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and other grave threats in the world. And he has given you no reason to answer in the affirmative."
John McCain

"Snowmobilers will have a strong voice in the White House."
A flier from the Maine Republican Party, also featuring a picture of snowmobile champion Todd Palin

"The McCain campaign has made impressive strides over the last week of tracking. The campaign is functionally tied across the battleground states... with our numbers IMPROVING sharply."
Bill McInturff, McCain campaign pollster

"Some folks will view the latest polling memo from McCain's pollster as nothing more than rose-colored spin to prop up Republicans before Election Day. But you'd be a fool to dismiss it out of hand."
Chuck Todd, NBC News

NUMBER NEWS

Barack Obama's lead in the daily tracking polls continues to slip slightly - Rasmussen now have him up by just three points. But he is leading by seven points according to Gallup, and by eight, according to ABC/Washington Post.

His position in some of the key swing states remains strong.

In Colorado, two polls give him a lead in the high single digits - Ap/GfK has him nine points ahead, and CNN has him eight points ahead.

The two pollsters also suggest that Mr Obama is leading in Virginia - by seven points and nine points respectively.

Why are these states important? Because if Mr Obama wins both of them, plus all of the states won by John Kerry in 2004, he wins the election.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, the first poll to be conducted in Alaska since incumbent Alaskan senator Ted Stevens was found guilty of lying about gifts form an oil company has been released.

The poll - from Rasmussen - shows Mr Stevens trailing by eight points behind his Democratic challenger, Mark Begich.

In Rasmussen's last poll of the race, Mr Stevens had a narrow one-point lead.