Don't get cocky, Obama warns supporters as he surges even further ahead of McCain after final TV debate



Barack Obama has warned his supporters not to be overconfident as he surged even further ahead in the U.S. Presidential race.

The Illinois senator sounded increasingly optimistic about his White House chances at a fundraiser in New York today.

He 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.'



Barack Obama looked unruffled during the final TV showdown with John McCain



But he told supporters: 'Two words for you: New Hampshire. I've been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away, and we end up getting spanked.'

Obama won the Iowa caucuses, only to lose to Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire in the primary.

The Democrat nominee is now the runaway favourite to become America's first black president after fending off a fusillade of attacks from John McCain in their final TV showdown.

A pugnacious Mr McCain threw everything he had at his unruffled Democrat opponent - but he still failed to land the knock-out blow he desperately needed to lift his flagging campaign.

And although Republican pundits gave the agitated Republican senator top marks for effort, a flurry of post-debate polls voted the unflappable Mr Obama the clear winner on points.

By passing his crucial test under the scrutiny of the nation in the third and last televised debate, Mr Obama can see the path opening up for a historic victory.

The latest opinion polls have him ahead by as much as 14 points and every indication suggests that a swathe of staunch Republican strongholds will fall to the Democrat front-runner.

The two candidates pose with their wives Cindy McCain, left, and Michelle Obama at the end of the debate. Polls after the broadcast put Mr Obama decisively ahead



But with just 18 days to the November 4 election, there was growing speculation last night over whether the U.S. was really ready to vote for a black president.

The race factor was only mentioned fleetingly in the debate at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island and has barely figured in the campaign.

But it is certain to loom large over the final weeks of electioneering as the Obama campaign focuses on consolidating support among white voters.

The very real concern among Mr Obama's inner circle is that a decisive percentage of white supporters may tell pollsters they will vote for a black president - but fail to follow through in the privacy of the ballot booth.

Political analysts insist that if he were white, Mr Obama would already be picking out wallpaper for the White House.

Harold Ickes, who was the Rev Jesse Jackson's advisor when he ran for president, said he shaves off a point or two from poll numbers to account for hidden racial prejudices.

'If he were white, this would be a blowout,' Mr Ickes told the New York Times.

'I think the country has come a long, long, long way since the 1960s. I think everybody would agree with that.



'But if you talk to people in certain states, they will say there are impulses that do not benefit Barack Obama because of the colour of his skin.'

Protesters and police clashed outside Hofstra University, where the final debate was held, leaving some injured



The phenomenon of voters lying about their prejudices to pollsters is known as the 'Bradley effect' in the U.S., after Tom Bradley, an African American who narrowly lost the 1982 California governor's election despite leading in polls.

His defeat surprised observers who concluded many white voters had not been honest about their intentions.



Ever since, pollsters have tried to factor in the Bradley effect in elections featuring black candidates.

The chief focus of concern is America's deep south, where scars of segregation are most recent.

In the debate, Mr Obama complained about reports that Republican supporters jeered 'terrorist' and 'kill him' when his name was mentioned at rallies for vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Mr McCain said comparisons of the slurs with the racial tension surrounding civil rights battles against segregation in the south during the 1960s was 'very unfair' and 'deeply hurtful'.

But it was a small part of the most explosive of the three presidential debates.

With an edgy mix of impatient eye-rolling and sidelong glares bordering on contempt, Mr McCain, 72, treated the 47-year-old Illinois senator like a naughty schoolboy, peppering him with jibes over the economy, abortion rights, healthcare and taxes.

He even went toe-to-toe with Mr Obama over his links to William Ayers, whom he described as an 'old, washed-up terrorist', a subject that was taboo in their two previous debates.

Polls put Obama as much as 14 points ahead of his Republican rival with just 18 days to go of the contest, but supporters are warning against being over confident because of 'racial prejudices' in the U.S.



But polls later showed an overwhelming majority of U.S. viewers thought Mr Obama won out by generally remaining above personal attacks.

A CNN survey gave Mr Obama the verdict by 58 per cent to 31 per cent and uncommitted voters taking part in a CBS News/Knowledge Networks poll gave him an even more emphatic edge by 53 per cent to 22 per cent.

The sparks began to fly after Mr Obama followed through with one of his main campaign mantras, linking Mr McCain with 'eight years of failed Bush policies.'



Bristling, Mr McCain immediately retorted: 'Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush you should have done so four years ago.'



'If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people - on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities - you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush,' hit back Mr Obama.

Mr McCain's short fuse almost blew when, as expected, he launched into a personal attack on Mr Obama over his connections to William Ayers, a Chicago university professor who was a founder member of the Weather Underground activist group that was blamed for a string of bombings in Washington during the 1960s Vietnam War protests.

Mr Obama replied by saying he was eight-years-old when Ayers carried out his 'despicable acts'.

'The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it says about me,' he added.