Obama set for prime-time appeal to voters

VIRGINIA: Democrat Barack Obama geared up Wednesday to deliver a presidential-style address to the nation in the final stetch of his electrifying White House campaign against John McCain.

Upping the pace as next Tuesday's election loomed, Obama was also due to hold his first joint rally with former president Bill Clinton at a midnight event in Orlando, Florida.

The 47-year-old Illinois senator, bidding to be America's first black president, is riding high in the polls while Republican rival John McCain is beset by reports of internal disarray between his aides and running mate Sarah Palin.

Campaigning in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley, Obama said the last Democratic presidential contender to come to the region was the racist Stephen Douglas Abraham Lincoln's opponent before the 1861-1865 Civil War.

Allies of Palin have given interviews anonymously to the press recently complaining about her handling by the McCain team, while McCain's senior aides have hit back, branding Palin a "diva" and a "whack job."

NORFOLK, Wednesday, AFP