Washington, Oct. 10 : Republican rallies across the United States are fast turning into rabble-rousing events where warm-up speakers are encouraging crowds to call Democratic contender, Barack Obama a "traitor, a criminal and a terrorist".

The McCain campaign has said that it does not condone such behaviour and does not want to see it happen, but according to The Independent, in the closely contested states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the crowds have been seen booing, jeering and hissing at the thought of waking up on November 5 and seeing the news that Barack Hussein Obama - is the president-elect of the United States.

The remarks were later condemned by the McCain campaign as "inappropriate rhetoric, which distracts from the real questions of judgement, character, and experience".

Yet the fact remains that - falling badly behind in polls and with dwindling amounts of cash to finance TV adverts, McCain needs any ammunition he can find to break his rival''s momentum.

In Florida this, week, one member of the audience was heard to yell "Kill Him".

The Democrat''s number two, Joe Biden, said such tactics were "dangerous", accusing Republicans of choosing "to appeal to fear with a veiled question: Who is the real Barack Obama?"

Obama is leading in swing states and the latest Gallup tracking poll gave him an 11-point lead nationally. He is also outstripping McCain in spending on advertising, paying 3.3 million dollars for TV spots on Monday alone, compared to the Republican''s 900,000 dollars. (ANI)