McCain makes last bid for Ohio

Considers victory in state crucial

COLUMBUS, Ohio - John McCain ended a two-day bus tour through Ohio with the blessing of one of the nation's most prominent liberal Republicans, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who offered expert testimony about Barack Obama's "skinny legs" and tax policies that he called redistributionist.

"I left Europe 40 years ago because socialism has killed opportunities there," said the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger, a naturalized US citizen. "Now Senator Obama says he wants to pursue the same 'spread-the-wealth' ideas that Europe had decades ago."

Nearly four years ago to the day, Schwarzenegger joined President Bush for a similar rally that filled all of the Nationwide Arena's 20,000 seats. McCain drew only about half as many, but it was still among the largest crowds of his campaign.

The actor-turned-governor mocked Obama, saying "he needs to do something about those skinny legs," needs to buff up those "scrawny little arms," and put some meat on his ideas. McCain, on the other hand, "is built like a rock," Schwarzenegger said, and has been tested. "He served longer in a POW camp than his opponent has served in the United States Senate."

The event, in which Schwarzenegger dubbed McCain a "real action hero" on a stage decorated with a mock barn and bales of hay, capped off a tour heavy with town squares and high-school marching bands.

The two-day blitz across northern Ohio demonstrated how important the traditionally Republican state remains to McCain's electoral arithmetic: every scenario his advisers lay out for winning the White House includes a victory in Ohio.

"Ohio has been a battleground state since 1960," when John F. Kennedy was elected president without it, McCain said in Hanoverton. "My friends, I don't want to have to worry about breaking that long string."

In his first event of the day, McCain stayed to a familiar script, claiming that only he could stand in the way of a left-wing restoration in Washington. This time, he referred to news reports that Barack Obama had offered a White House post to US Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. (Emanuel's office disputed the suggestion.)

"My opponent is working out the details with Speaker Pelosi and Senator [Harry] Reid to raise your taxes, increase spending, and concede defeat in Iraq. He's measuring the drapes," McCain said.

In a conference call with reporters, the McCain campaign pressed the case that it remained viable despite polls showing Obama ahead in most battleground states. While McCain and his best friend, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have insisted in recent days that their campaign has suffered in the face of a Democratic resource advantage, officials said yesterday that - when paired with spending by the Republican National Committee - they were now evenly matched.

"In the last 10 days of this campaign McCain will outspend Barack Obama on television," campaign manager Rick Davis said.

McCain's campaign day, spent aboard his Straight Talk Express bus winding through eastern Ohio, frequently hugging the borders of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, was probably his last traveling by his favorite mode of transportation. McCain left Ohio for Virginia, where he is scheduled to host a pair of stops today before traveling onward to Pennsylvania and New England.

Tomorrow, McCain will visit Pennsylvania and New Hampshire for what Davis called a "nostalgia tour."

Late tomorrow night, McCain is planning to kick off a daylong fly-around that should take him through seven states as he moves west from Florida to Arizona. McCain will conclude his campaign with a rally Monday in his home state, where Obama announced yesterday he will begin to advertise. Polls there show a close race.