Candidates step up visits to key states

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are stumping together Wednesday in the battleground states of Florida and Pennsylvania.

Clinton, the only Democrat to occupy the White House since 1980, and Obama, running to become the president on Tuesday, scheduled joint appearances in Kissimmee, Fla., and Harrisburg, Pa.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, meanwhile, also planned to speak at a rally in Miami before traveling to Ohio, normally a reliably Republican stronghold but now considered a tossup.

McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, planned to hopscotched across Ohio and into Indiana to press the ticket's cause in the last days before Election Day.

The Obama-Joe Biden ticket scheduled a joint appearance in Sunrise, Fla., before going their separate ways on the campaign trail.

The senator from Illinois also will air a 30-minute infomercial on several U.S. networks and the Spanish-language network Univision.

Obama leads McCain nationally and in both Ohio and Florida, polls indicate. A CNN poll of polls showed Obama with an 8-point lead over McCain, 51 percent to 43 percent. Most other national polls show Obama with a lead ranging between 5 points and double digits.