WASHINGTON (AP):

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was looking yesterday to move in on traditionally Republican territory, sensing faltering support for opponent John McCain despite his feisty performance in the final debate.

Viewers gave Obama the win in Wednesday night's debate by a wide margin in instant polls, and surveys show Obama heavily favoured as the candidate to handle the United States financial crisis with only three weeks to go before the November 4 election.

McCain had planned to visit battleground states but was being forced to defend traditionally Republican territory such as Virginia and Colorado, where polls show Obama leading.

McCain held a rally in Penn-sylvania yesterday, while Obama was campaigning in New Hampshire, with plans to head to Virginia and Republican-leaning Missouri in the next few days. Some Democrats, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering the campaign, said Obama is also launching TV ads in traditionally Republican West Virginia, and is considering making a move into the staunchly conservative states of Kentucky, North Dakota and Georgia.

Working-class whites

Obama lost both West Virginia and Kentucky in the primaries to Hillary Rodham Clinton by a significant margin as he struggled to win over working-class whites. But Democrats say the economic turmoil in hard-hit West Virginia have made that state competitive.

Obama sounded increasingly optimistic about his White House chances at a breakfast fund-raiser in New York yesterday.

"We now have 19 days," Obama said. "We are now 19 days not from the end but from the beginning. The amount of work that is going to be involved for the next president is going to be extraordinary."