Race to get 270 electoral votes getting tougher: McCain

{image-McCane and Obama_27102008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Washington, Oct 27: Republican presidential nominee John McCain has acknowledged that the race to get to the magic number of 270 electoral votes is tough, but said polls are 'all over the map' and he is doing better than the numbers would suggest.

"We're doing fine, we have closed in the last week, we'll continue to close in the next week and you'll be up very, very late on election night," McCain told "Meet the Press" anchor Tom Brokaw in an interview taped in Iowa. McCain is campaigning in the Hawkeye State despite a 12-point deficit in an average of Iowa polls. "We've been very, very competitive in the battleground states ... We're very competitive here, and we're very happy with where we are and I'm very proud of the campaign I've run," he said.

But as McCain scours for electoral votes with just nine days left until the election, Barack Obama is spending his time in states President Bush won in 2004. The key to victory is getting to the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the White House. Confident and leading in most polls, Obama is spending his time in traditionally Republican turf, FOX News reported.

Based on nationwide polling, the Real Clear Politics average of electoral votes gives Obama 306 electoral votes while McCain has 157 votes. 75 electoral votes are listed as toss-ups. Former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove, who runs his own analysis and lists Obama with 317 electoral votes, McCain with 157 and 64 toss-ups, said McCain has a very difficult task ahead of him.

"He's got to win all of the toss-up states, 64 electoral votes, all the yellow-shaded states on the map. Then he needs to strip away Ohio and Indiana with 31 electoral votes to get him to 252. And then he needs to either win Colorado and Virginia, which gets him to 274, or win one of them plus Pennsylvania, which would get him to 282 or 286. It's a steep uphill climb," Rove said.

ANI