Barack Obama warned Democrats today that any sign of “giddy” complacency would result in him being “spanked” in next month’s presidential election.

The Illinois senator, who has a commanding lead in the opinion polls, insisted that the race for the White House was not over yet as he continued to fundraise at a breakfast meeting in New York.

Mr Obama avoided any knockout blows from his Republican rival during last night’s third and final presidential debate, which leaves John McCain with very little time to close the gap.

Opinion polls in recent days have suggested that Mr Obama has as much as a 10 per cent lead over his rival. One British bookmaker has even begun paying out on a Democrat win. An average of polls calculated by the Real Clear Politics website gives Mr Obama a 6.9 per cent lead over Mr McCain.

The Democrat warned against complacency, however, by reminding his supporters of the trauma of his unexpected primary defeat to Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire this January. The polls had suggested that after victory in the Iowa caucus, he would be able to stroll to the Democratic nomination.

“For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky or think this is all set, I just have two words for you: New Hampshire,” said Mr Obama. “I’ve been in these positions before when we were favoured and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked.

“That’s another good lesson that Hillary Clinton taught me, so we want to make sure that we are closing strong, running through the tape."

While trying desperately hard not to look as though he was “measuring the drapes” for the White House, Mr Obama could not resist a suggesting that he was preparing to assume the Presidency.

“We now have 19 days,” he said. “We are now 19 days not from the end but from the beginning. The amount of work that is going to be involved for the next president is going to be extraordinary.”

The Republican today returned to the theme that his opponent did not have the experience to become President with his campaign and the Republican National Committee releasing advertisements focusing on experience and judgment.

During the debate last night Senator McCain faced the allegation that far from having too little experience, he had been in cahoots with the current Administration for the past eight years.

“Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago,” he said.

But the 47-year-old first-term Illinois senator countered: “If I’ve occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush’s policies, it’s because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people - on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities - you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush.”

Pundits claimed that the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University was the Republican’s best yet but instant polling suggested that most people had still seen it as a victory for Mr Obama.

In CNN’s poll, 58 per cent of respondents said Mr Obama won the debate compared to 31 for Mr McCain, with 70 per cent saying Obama was more likeable. A CBS poll scored the debate 53-22 per cent in favour of the Democrat.

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