US election at-a-glance: 3 Mar

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DAY IN A NUTSHELL

Candidates engage in last-minute campaigning in Texas and Ohio ahead of Tuesday's crucial primaries. The race is particularly intense on the Democratic side. The Clinton campaign repeats the accusation that an adviser to rival Barack Obama told a Canadian official that Mr Obama's anti-Nafta rhetoric should not be taken at face value.

KEY QUOTES

"If he can't compete with us on who can be commander-in-chief, who can be a steward of this economy, he can't compete with John McCain on these issues."Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson on Barack Obama

What would be a better use of his time, being in Texas having a debate on issues that affect Texans or serving BBQ to the media? Mike Huckabeeon John McCain <a class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/7271888.stm">At-a-glance: 29 Feb</a>

"There's no fire in the eyes to realise some utopian or revolutionary dream. Instead, what comes across - in both his questions and his answers - is calmness, reason, and judgment."Internet entrepreneur Marc Andreessen meets Barack Obama

"What would be a better use of his time, being in Texas having a debate on issues that affect Texans or serving BBQ to the media?"Mike Huckabee objects to John McCain's scheduling priorities

"The reason the Republicans have a fighting chance [in the presidential election] is simple: Even though the Republican Party's brand is damaged, John McCain's remains surprisingly good. "Stuart Rothenburg, Rothenburg Political Report

NUMBER NEWS

As the primaries in Ohio and Texas draw near, a number of polls in the two states have been published.

In Texas, three polls suggest Barack Obama has a very narrow lead over Hillary Clinton.

Zogby gives him a three-point lead, 47%-44%, while Rasmussen and SurveyUSA both give him a one-point lead.

A fourth Texas poll gives Mrs Clinton the lead, however: the Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey gives her 50% to Mr Obama's 44%.

In Ohio, four polls all suggest that Mrs Clinton holds a moderate lead.

SurveyUSA gives her a ten-point lead over Mr Obama (54%-44%), PPP gives her a nine-point lead (51%-42%), Rasmussen gives her a six point lead (50%-44%) and Quinnipiac gives her a four-point lead (49%-45%).

But in a fifth poll, from Zogby, Mr Obama has the lead in Ohio, with 47% to Mrs Clinton's 45%.

All surveys of Republican voters in the two states suggest that John McCain is heading for a comfortable victory tomorrow.

DAILY PICTURE

This Clinton supporter, echoing today's opinion polls, perhaps, is clearly confident of victory tomorrow