To a lesser extent, one can also add Iowa (seven EV), Wisconsin (10 EV), Minnesota (10 EV) and Nevada (five EV). However, the general opinion is that most of these states (bar Wisconsin) will remain with the parties that secured them in the 2000 election.

President Bush is on a final blitz of campaigning that will take him through the states that he feels he can win, like Michigan and Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, he took on a massive crowd in a gigantic stadium in Detroit, accusing Senator Kerry of politicising the issue with regard to the recent theft of explosives in Iraq.

What must have been quite worrying for the Kerry camp was the fact that most of the audience behind Bush in this rally were African-Americans,

traditionally a crucial part of the Democratic vote and a block that seems will turn out in greater numbers for the Bush-Cheney ticket.

Senator Kerry was quick to hit back in his speeches in Michigan and Wisconsin, saying that the President should offer proper answers for his conduct in the Iraqi explosives affair. However, Mr Kerry would do well to continue his push for the Presidency by turning some attention to New Jersey. A Quinniapac University Poll there show the Garden State is virtually tied when other polls taken just days ago had Kerry by as many as 13 points up on Bush.

However, Senator Kerry does appear to be gaining significant ground in Ohio according to recent polls, which have him up by as much as six per cent in this crucial state. This leaves President Bush with the urgent necessity of retaining Florida and capturing either Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin if he wants to win a second term.

With New Hampshire also tending to favour the Democrats, a virtual tie in the Electoral College could even create an incredible situation when the election would have to be decided by the House of Representatives.

Gerald Fenech is in New York and Washington DC to cover

the US Presidential elections through the support of the

American Embassy in Malta