WASHINGTON, Aug 20: The latest polls show that Senator Barack Obama’s lead over his Republican rival John McCain has been cut by half in recent days.

Mr Obama’s lead is now a slim three points over Senator McCain. This is down from an eight point lead that Senator Obama recorded in mid-July. The polls, released early on Wednesday by CNN and two leading US newspapers, show that Mr McCain’s new approach to win over religious voters and his negative campaigning against his rival have been quite effective.

Mr Obama now leads Mr McCain 46-43 percent — half of his advantage in a CNN poll of polls one week ago, and down from a high of 8 points in mid-July.

A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll indicates puts Mr Obama only 2 points ahead of Mr McCain, well within the poll’s margin of error.

The CNN poll of polls also includes new surveys from Quinnipiac and Gallup.

According to CNN, Russia’s invasion of Georgia also gave Mr McCain an anvil to hammer away at Mr Obama’s inexperience.

The network noted that Senator Hillary Clinton nearly overtook Mr Obama during the primary campaign after she started airing ads that highlighted Mr Obama’s inexperience.

The McCain has publicly acknowledged that it has learned quite a few tactics from Mrs Clinton’s campaign.

When Russian troops invaded Georgia two weeks ago, Mr McCain vigorously denounced the action and warned of consequences. Mr Obama’s reaction was more measured.

Polls results have alarmed the Obama campaign and they have arranged a series of meetings for the candidate in key swing states to win back his supporters. Several opinion surveys noted that Mr McCain already has overtaken Mr Obama in at least one respect.

The Republican’s current lead in key states would give him enough electoral votes to win the election. But experts interviewed by CNN noted that the recent downturn in the polls for Mr Obama may not last. He is headed for a week of what is likely to be overwhelmingly positive coverage as he names his running mate and officially accepts his party’s presidential nomination.