McCain, Obama face off in final debate

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cnn.com — Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have taken the stage for their third and final presidential debate.

The debate, taking place at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, comes as Obama continues to make gains in the polls.

Obama currently leads McCain by 8 percentage points, according to CNN's average of national surveys.

Eight percent of voters are still undecided, according to CNN's poll of polls.

Obama on Wednesday also made some gains in key battleground states, according to CNN's Electoral Map.

With Obama holding the advantage in most recent surveys, the goal for his campaign is to stay the course.

"Let me just say this, we weren't discouraged by polls when they were not favorable for us, we're not seduced by polls now," said David Axelrod. Obama's senior strategist. "We think this is going to be a battle every day right till the end and we're prepared for that.

McCain must clearly differentiate his plan to fix the ailing economy from that of his rival at Wednesday night's debate if he is to shake up the race, some analysts said.