Los Angeles - On the bucolic campus of Occidental College on the outskirts of Los Angeles, students this week were busy with their usual important activities: studying, hanging out and spending hour after hour working the phones in support of Barack Obama.

Their mission: to call fellow students around the country and urge them to go to the polls.

It's no surprise that students at Obama's alma mater are pulling out all the stops in support their most famous alumnus.

Washington - Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic rival Barack Obama continued their last-ditch attempts to appeal to wavering voters in swing states on Thursday as the US economy took another step toward recession.

Obama planned stops in Florida, Virginia and Missouri and jumped on new government figures that showed the economy contracted 0.3 per cent in the third quarter as proof that a change in approach was needed.

Los Angeles - Barack Obama's 30 minute infomercial was watched by some 30 million viewers Wednesday night and beat the normal ratings of the networks on which it was screened, according to preliminary ratings released Thursday by Nielsen.

The viewing figures showed that for the six networks that aired the programme simultaneously, the spot had a household rating of 21.7 per cent, meaning that 21.7 percent of all households watching television were tuned to the spot. The total of network viewers was 26.3 million viewers, with millions more watching on cable channels which also aired the ad.

Coimbatore, Oct 30 : A practitioner of traditional medicines in Coimbatore on Thursday conducted special prayers to seek the blessings of gods to ensure a smooth victory for Barack Obama, the Democratic candidate in the US Presidential polls.

Krishana Kumar, Managing Director of Dhanwantari Temple said that he was fascinated by Democrat Barack Obama''s campaigning style when he was in America recently.

He got his horoscope, read it carefully and thought of performing some prayers for his victory.

Washington, Oct 30 : Popstar John Mayer is the latest celebrity to endorse Barack Obama and has urged critics to reconsider the politician''s message of "hope".

Mayer, 31, has made a last minute bid in support of Obama, as the history making election is just a week later.

Mayer has supported Obama by appreciating him, and urging people to vote for him.

"Obama gives me the feeling that I could be alive to witness one of the most brilliant upturns in a country''s history. What a concept. That''s why hope is a worthwhile commodity,” Contactmusic quoted Mayer, as stating in a column for online blog The Huffington Post.