WASHINGTON – Republican John McCain declared "I'm going to win it," dismissing polls showing him behind with little more than a week to go in the presidential race. Democrat Barack Obama rolled out a new TV ad asserting his rival is "out of ideas, out of touch, and running out of time."

Heading into the final nine days of the 2008 contest, the White House competitors campaigned in key battlegrounds that President Bush won four years ago as the state-by-state Electoral College map tilts strongly in Obama's favor. Democrats and Republicans alike say it will be extraordinarily difficult for McCain to change the trajectory of the campaign before the Nov. 4 election.

"Unfortunately, I think John McCain might be added to that long list of Arizonans who ran for president but were never elected," McCain's fellow senator from Arizona, Republican Jon Kyl, told the Arizona Daily Star editorial board in an interview published Sunday.

Sparring from a distance, each candidate criticized the other anew in hopes of swaying the roughly one-fourth of voters who are undecided or could still change their minds.

Obama "started out in the left-hand lane of American politics and has remained there," McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press" while in Iowa, casting the Democrat as too liberal for a right-of-center country.

In Colorado, Obama portrayed McCain as more of the same, saying: "For eight years, we've seen the Bush-McCain philosophy put our country on the wrong track, and we cannot have another four years that look just like the last eight."

Obama is working to solidify his lead in national and key state surveys, while McCain is looking for a comeback in a political environment that has become increasingly favorable for Democrats and challenging for Republicans as the global economic crisis dominates the campaign.

In coming days, both candidates will focus primarily on Bush-won, vote-rich battlegrounds like Ohio and Florida, which decided the last two presidential elections and could do so again.

Pennsylvania is the only state that Democrat John Kerry won four years ago that both candidates are expected to visit before Election Day. With 21 electoral votes, it hasn't voted for a Republican president since 1988 but McCain is aggressively courting white, working-class voters who overwhelmingly chose Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primary over Obama, who would become the country's first black president.

Obama's campaign was exuding confidence though leaving nothing to chance.

The Democrat hit McCain with the fresh ad, to air on national cable stations, that says he has "no plan to lift our economy up" and, thus, is tearing down Obama with "scare tactics and smears." "As Americans lose their jobs, homes, and savings, it's time for a president who will change the economy, not change the subject," says the ad, which shows McCain and Bush together

The Illinois senator was spending the next four days in Bush-won Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida, with a quick stop in Pennsylvania.

Aides say Obama will lay out his closing argument in a speech Monday in Canton, Ohio. Behind the scenes, advisers were preparing the 30-minute advertisement he planned to air Wednesday on national TV networks as part of that last pitch, and also were mapping the transition to the White House.

McCain, for his part, was seeking to stay focused on his uphill battle amid new distractions.

In the past few days, there has been finger-pointing inside the GOP over who is to blame for McCain's struggles, reports of friction between his top advisers and aides for running mate Sarah Palin and the continued fallout of the Republican National Committee's $150,000 purchase of high-end clothing for the Alaska governor and her family.

Even so, McCain appeared undeterred in Iowa, where public surveys show Obama comfortably leading. He was campaigning later in the toss-up state of Ohio, followed by Pennsylvania on Monday, where Obama has the advantage.

In the TV interview, McCain said of the race: "We're going to win it, and it's going to be tight, and we're going to be up late" on election night.

He dismissed the Palin wardrobe flap and said much of the clothes were immediately returned. Aides said that was for a variety of reasons, including the wrong sizes, and that the rest will be donated to charity.

"I don't defend her. I praise her. She is exactly what Washington needs," McCain said.

McCain also worked anew to distance himself from the unpopular Bush, saying he's stood up against the GOP and Bush and has "got the scars to prove it."

"The fact is I am not George Bush. The fact is I was not popular in my own party," McCain said. Then, he added: "Do we share a common philosophy of the Republican Party? Of course."

Obama pounced on that comment, telling his Denver audience: "I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk, and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common." Then, he belittled the "Bush-McCain philosophy" on economics as one that would benefit the wealthy and corporations while hurting the middle class.

He noted that Bush already has cast his vote for McCain and said: "We're not going to let George Bush pass the torch to John McCain."

_{SUNRISE, Fla. – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama plunked down $4 million for a campaign-closing television ad Wednesday night and summoned voters to "choose hope over fear and unity over division" in Tuesday's election. Republican John McCain derided the event as a "gauzy, feel-good commercial," paid for with broken promises.}

_{"America, the time for change has come," Obama said in the final moments of the unusual ad, a blend of videotaped moments and a live appearance before thousands in Sunrise, Fla.}

_{"In six days we can choose an economy that rewards work and creates jobs and fuels prosperity starting with the middle class," Obama said.}

_{The 30-minute ad, aired on CBS, NBC, Fox and several cable networks, came days from the end of a race in which Obama holds the lead in polls nationally and in most key battleground states as he bids to become the first black president.}

_{And while it is unusual for candidates to acknowledge the possibility of defeat, Republican running mate Sarah Palin said she intended to remain a national figure even if the ticket loses next week. "I'm not doin' this for naught," she told ABC News in an interview.}

_{Republicans and even some Democrats said the race was tightening as it neared the end. Although Obama made no mention of McCain in his paid television ad, both men sharpened their rhetoric during the day.}

_{McCain, in Florida, argued that Obama lacks "what it takes to protect America from terrorists" as he sought to shift attention away from the economy.}

_{"The question is whether this is a man who has what it takes to protect America from Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida and the other great threats in the world," he said. "He has given no reason to answer in the affirmative."}

_{Obama, in North Carolina, said if, "Senator McCain is elected, 100 million Americans will not get a tax cut ... your health care benefits will get taxed for the first time in history ... we'll have another president who wants to privatize part of your Social Security."}

_{For weeks now, the race has tilted Obama's way as the two men traverse traditionally Republican states — Obama angling for a sizeable triumph and McCain hoping to win the White House in a close finish.}

_{Associated Press-GfK polls taken within the past several days showed Obama ahead in four states that supported President Bush in 2004 and essentially even with McCain in two others. A separate survey suggested even McCain's home state of Arizona was not safely in his column.}

_{The 30-minute campaign commercial, purchased at a cost that campaign aides put at roughly $4 million, not only marked Obama's attempt to seal his case with the electorate, but also underscored his enormous financial advantage in the race. He has outraised McCain by far after first committing — and then reneging — on a pledge to limit spending to the $84 million available under federal matching funds.}

_{Obama used his commercial to pledge a rescue plan for the middle class in tough times. "I will not be a perfect president," he said. "But I can promise you this — I will always tell you what I think and where I stand."}

_{Across 30 minutes, the ad blended views of Obama speaking in a setting that resembled the Oval Office, at the Democratic National Convention and elsewhere as well as scenes of Americans discussing their economic and health care troubles. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters had cameos, and there were photos of his black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas.}

_{McCain sought to blunt Obama's campaign-closing pitch, lacking the funds to match it.}

_{"He's got a few things he wants to sell you: He's offering government-run health care ... an energy plan guaranteed to work without drilling ... and an automatic wealth spreader that folds neatly and fits under any bed," McCain told an audience in Florida.}

_{Earlier in the campaign, former Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as McCain sought to raise doubts about Obama's relatively thin resume on foreign policy and national security matters.}

_{In response, Obama traveled last summer to Iraq, Afghanistan and Europe, where he met with world leaders. Later, he tapped Sen. Joseph Biden, who has long experience in foreign policy, as his vice presidential running mate.}

_{More recently, he won an endorsement from former Secretary of State Colin Powell.}

_{Conversely, McCain has slumped in the polls as the economic crisis has unfolded in the past several weeks.}

_{Speaking to reporters Wednesday, he said the economic meltdown, while serious, was temporary, and the nation would emerge stronger.}

_{Besides Obama, he criticized the Democratic leaders of Congress, who hope to command larger majorities in the new House and Senate than they do now.}

_{"We're getting only a glimpse of what one-party rule will look like," he said, predicting deep cuts in defense spending and efforts to shrink America's role in the world if Democrats take over the government.}

_{"Let there be no confusion about the threats we face," said McCain. "I've had to make some defining choices along the way," he added in what seemed to be a reference to his time in the Navy, more than five years of which were spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.}

_{Obama blended his sharp rhetoric with a more humorous approach as he sought to fend off McCain's charge that his tax policies amount to socialism.}

_{McCain, he said, will soon "be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten."}