Obama Blitz Swamps McCain

Oct. 29, 2008— -- Sen. Barack Obama intends to overwhelm Sen. John McCain in an air war today that will feature a new television ad, a 30-minute prime-time infomercial on most TV networks, an interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson and a late-night appearance on the "The Daily Show."

McCain's response is a 30-second ad and a CNN interview on "Larry King Live."

Watch Obama's Interview With Charles Gibson on "World News" at 6:30 p.m. ET

With six days to go in the presidential race, the candidates are shadowing each other through states that are vital to both strategies for victory. They went toe-to-toe in Ohio on Monday and held competing rallies in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

Their slugfest heads to Florida today, where both will woo voters in a state that is seen as essential to McCain and could be decisive for Obama on Election Day.

Yet polls released today brought bad news for McCain. The latest Quinnipiac University survey showed Obama with a nine-point point lead, 51-42, over his Republican rival nationally. Even bleaker for McCain is a Pew Research Center poll that showed Obama with a 16-point lead among the country's registered voters.

Those are tough numbers for McCain to overcome as voting has already begun in much of the country.

The centerpiece of today's furious round of campaigning is Obama's multi-network, multi-million dollar TV extravaganza that begins at 8 p.m. ET and ends just moments before the World Series resumes.

Obama will be sitting at a table with average Americans he met on the stump as they tell their stories, each illustrating an economic challenge facing voters.

Several prominent American supporters are expected to make cameo appearances to vouch for Obama.

The candidate will talk about his mother's struggle with her insurance company while dying of cancer, and the spot will climax with Obama speaking live from a campaign stop in Florida.

It will be the first time a candidate has spent so lavishly for a solid block of prime-time television since 1992, when billionaire Ross Perot bought several half-hour segments as part of his unsuccessful independent bid for the White House.