Barack Obama has accused rival John McCain of scaremongering in the last major speech of his White House campaign.

Speaking in Canton, in the battleground state of Ohio, the 47-year-old Illinois senator said his rival did not represent change for America, adding: "That's why he's spending these last weeks calling me every name in the book.

"Because that's how you play the game in Washington. If you can't beat your opponent's ideas you distort those ideas and maybe make some up.

"If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run away from."

He went on: "In one week, you can put an end to the politics that would divide a nation just to win an election; that tries to pit region against region, city against town, Republican against Democrat; that asks us to fear at a time when we need hope.

"In one week, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change it needs."

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