Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama began the closing days of the presidential campaign with a show of force, a half-hour primetime pitch to voters on three major broadcast networks, leaving John McCain to respond with an interview on one cable news channel, a few local stations and some new 30-second ads.

Obama's ad, which cost his campaign more than $3 million and reached a nationwide audience, featured the Democratic nominee introducing stories about Americans struggling with economic hardships and outlining his middle-class ``rescue plan'' as well as his policies for health care, energy and the war in Iraq.

``This election is a defining moment,'' Obama said in a pre- recorded portion of the infomercial, which closed with a live broadcast from a campaign rally in Sunrise, Florida.

The 30-minute ad on multiple outlets, the first for a presidential candidate since billionaire independent H. Ross Perot did the same during the 1992 campaign, was a demonstration of Obama's money advantage. While Republican McCain is taking $84.1 million in public money and the spending limits that go with it, Obama opted out the system and has been raising record amounts, $150 million in September alone.

McCain criticized Obama for not taking part in the public financing system, saying on CNN that the Democratic candidate reneged on a promise to do so and has taken in millions in ``undocumented'' campaign contributions.

Rhetoric and Record

``Senator Obama has not told the American people the truth,'' McCain said on the ``Larry King Live'' program. ``So therefore he now is able to buy these half-hour infomercials and, frankly, is going to try to convince the American people through his rhetoric what his record shows that he's not.''

Obama, a senator from Illinois, has been outspending McCain throughout the campaign. He spent $190 million on ads through Oct. 15, compared with $76.7 million for McCain, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group that tracks campaign spending.

The 30-minute ad ran on CBS, NBC and Fox, Spanish-language network Univision and cable channels MSNBC, BET and TV One. It outlined his proposals on a host of domestic issues in broad strokes that left out details.

Obama said that he ``offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost'' to pay for his new programs. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based research group, said in a September report that both McCain and Obama ``have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years.''

The advertisement was seen in 21.7 percent of households watching television in the biggest U.S. markets, according to figures from Nielsen Co. That compares with a 38.3 percent rating for the final presidential debate, Nielsen said in an e-mailed statement today.

Campaign Blitz

Keeping up the campaign blitz, Obama also taped an appearance for ``The Daily Show'' on the Comedy Central cable channel last night and held an event in Florida with former President Bill Clinton after 11 p.m., in time for local news broadcasts.

Clinton cited Obama's handling of the financial crisis as evidence that he's fit to be commander in chief. Clinton said that Obama, in order to fully understand the crisis at hand, made sure to consult economic experts including former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

``If we have not learned anything we have learned we need a president who wants to understand and who can understand,'' Clinton told the crowd of about 35,000 in Kissimmee, Florida.

McCain Interviews

McCain countered with a series of interviews with local broadcasters in Florida and the recorded interview on CNN in which he acknowledged he's struggling to keep states won by President George W. Bush in 2004 in the Republican column.

``There is no doubt we've got to hold them in order to win,'' the Arizona senator said.

The campaign is mostly being waged in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The five states combined have 96 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House. All except Pennsylvania went to Bush in the last presidential election; Polls show Obama ahead in each, ranging from a sizable advantage in Pennsylvania to a slim edge in North Carolina.

Pennsylvania is the only 2004 Democratic state where McCain is considered competitive. There are at least a half-dozen that Bush won in the last election -- Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Missouri and Indiana -- where Obama is either running ahead of or about even with McCain in state polls.

Obama Schedule

Over the next three days, Obama is hopscotching the country, from Florida, Virginia and Missouri today, to Iowa, Indiana, Nevada and Colorado tomorrow and Saturday.

McCain is taking a bus trip across Ohio today, stopping in five smaller towns in the state. Beyond that, his advisers say they anticipate spending most of the candidate's time in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.

``We're flexible and will see where the need is,'' campaign political director Mike DuHaime said.

A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll of likely voters taken Oct. 25-27 found Obama leading McCain 50 percent to 43 percent in Florida and 49 percent to 40 percent in Ohio. A poll by the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion showed Obama leading in Pennsylvania 53 percent to McCain's 42 percent.

McCain dismissed suggestions that his campaign won't have enough time to make up the difference.

`Wrong Now'

``The pundits have written us off several times before. They were wrong before and they are wrong now,'' McCain said yesterday in Florida.

Obama, meanwhile, cautioned his supporters against over- confidence. ``We can't afford to slow down or sit back or let up for one day for one minute for one second in this last week,'' Obama said last night in Sunrise, Florida.

Obama is drawing large crowds all over the country. This week 9,000 people stood in a cold driving rain to hear him in Chester, Pennsylvania, and more than 10,000 turned out in the heavily Republican town of Harrisonburg in Virginia's Shenandoah Mountains region. In Sunrise, Florida last night, 20,000 showed up. McCain generally draws a smaller audience for his rallies, though running mate Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, brings out enthusiastic crowds.

Still, crowd size and enthusiasm is not necessarily an indicator of success on Election Day, as the late President John F. Kennedy noted after the 1960 vote and his loss in Ohio:

``I never got as great a crowd in any town and less votes than I did in Columbus, Ohio,'' Kennedy said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington, at kjensen@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman in Raleigh, North Carolina, at Or jgoldman6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 30, 2008 13:01 EDT