McCain looking for traction in U.S. campaign

By Steve Holland

DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican John McCain, fighting for traction 11 days before the U.S. presidential election, said on Friday he has a tough battle against Democrat Barack Obama in Colorado but vowed to make a comeback.

Down in opinion polls, the Arizona senator faces an uphill battle in several battleground states won by Republicans in 2004 but he and his aides say victory is still possible despite strong political winds blowing against him.

"This is going to be a tough state, my friends, and we're going to be up late (on election night) but we're going to win here," McCain told a noisy crowd in Denver.

"We need your vote, we need you to work. It's 11 days," McCain told a large crowd at a later rally at a high school football field in Durango.

McCain's predicament was summed up by former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, famed for leading late-game comebacks in the National Football League, who helped introduce him in Denver.

"Senator, it's the fourth quarter," Elway said. "Some pundits are already counting you out, but I know a thing or two about comebacks and I cannot wait until November 4 when you once again prove those pundits wrong and are elected as our next president of the United States."

McCain, as he has for much of the week, argued at events in Denver, Colorado Springs and Durango that Obama would raise taxes on small businesses. He again cited Obama's recent comment to an Ohio man, Joe Wurzelbacher, also known as "Joe the Plumber," that he wanted to "spread the wealth around."

"This will be a focal point in the last 11 days of this campaign," McCain told reporters in Colorado Springs after meeting small business owners at a steel fabrication plant.