US election at-a-glance: 31 Oct

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

As Al Gore campaigns for Barack Obama in Florida, the Democratic candidate's campaign announces that it is buying advertising airtime in North Dakota, Georgia and Arizona, the home state of his Republican rival.

KEY QUOTES

"A couple of elections ago, there was a presidential candidate who decried this kind of politics and condemned these kinds of tactics. And I admired him for it - we all did. But the high road didn't lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route."
Barack Obama

Take it from me: elections matter

Al Gore

US election at-a-glance: 30 Oct

"I've served my country since I was 17 years old. And, spent five years longing for her shores. I came home dedicated to a cause greater than my own."
John McCain

"If the media convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
Sarah Palin

"Take it from me: elections matter, every vote matters."
Al Gore reminisces

"We're pretty jazzed up about what we're seeing... We are witnessing, I believe, one of the greatest comebacks since John McCain won the primary."
Rick Davis McCain campaign manager

NUMBER NEWS

Most daily tracking polls indicate that Mr Obama's national lead has widened slightly.

He now leads John McCain nationwide by nine points, according to Gallup and ABC/Washington Post. His lead in Rasmussen's daily tracker decreased from five to four points, however.

Some polling from Research 2000 in previously solid Republican states suggests that Mr Obama is narrowing the gap.

In Georgia, he trails Mr McCain by three points, Research 2000 indicates, while in Montana his deficit is four.

And in North Dakota, the pollster suggests that Mr Obama is behind by just one point.

DAILY PICTURE