Election tension: The final pleas

As the last day of their nearly two-year-long campaign draws to an end, both presidential campaigns are hurtling through a busy schedule of last-minute appearances in battleground states, trying to put a few last points on the board before the majority of voters go to the polls Tuesday.

Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain both started the day in Florida, with McCain holding a rally in Tampa with Gov. Charlie Crist and Obama addressing supporters in Jacksonville.

From Florida, McCain traveled to Blountville, Tenn., Moon Township, Pa. and Indianapolis, Ind., sharply criticizing his Democratic opponent and forecasting victory at every stop.

In Pennsylvania, at a rally with former Gov. Tom Ridge, McCain called Obama the country’s “most liberal senator” and predicted voters in Pittsburgh would carry his ticket to victory.
“We are going to win. Pennsylvania will do it and Pittsburgh will be the important area,” McCain said to a crowd of approximately 1,000 voters, some of whom brandished signs reading: “Say no to socialism.”

Traveling on to Indiana, McCain touted his experience and assured his supporters that the electorate would defy expectations on Tuesday.

“I’ve been tested and I pass the test,” he said, his voice showing traces of hoarseness. “They don’t know it, but the Mac is back.”

The Republican presidential nominee is scheduled to appear in three more states today: New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona, his home state.

Obama, whose day on the trail was disrupted by news of the death of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, started his day in Florida by putting one of Sen. McCain’s top campaign-trail gaffes back in the headlines.

“Remember what he said when he was here on September 15?” Obama asked the crowd, referring to Jacksonville’s Veterans’ Memorial arena. “He said – and I quote – ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

Addressing a crowd estimated at 9,150 people, and with many seats in the venue still empty, Obama tripped himself up with a minor gaffe, telling the crowd: “Republicans are spending a lot of time on ads here in Ohio.”

He correcting himself by explaining: “I’ve been traveling too much.”

As the candidate campaigned in the Sunshine State, Obama’s communications shop touted the news that the chairman of the University of Florida’s pro-McCain group, Gators for McCain, had endorsed Obama, explaining: “I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for.”

The endorsement is unlikely to move votes, but the fact that the Obama team seized on it a sign of how eager the campaigns are to pick up the tiniest bit of momentum in the home stretch.

While in Florida, Obama also participated in a phone call with African-American political leaders, including television host Oprah Winfrey, musical artist Sean Combs, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery, in an attempt to encourage one of his most enthusiastic constituencies in advance of tomorrow’s vote.

Before the day is over, Obama will also visit Charlotte, N.C., and Manassas, Va.

The vice presidential candidates aren’t letting up, either. Sen. Joe Biden is focusing his attentions on the Midwestern states of Missouri and Ohio, while Gov. Sarah Palin sprints through a coast-to-coast tour of electoral battlegrounds.

Palin began her day with a rally in Lakewood, Ohio, where she criticized the Democrats for their wariness of coal-based power and blasted Obama’s tax plan as an “experiment with socialism.”

“Our opponent’s plan is just for bigger government,” Palin said. “Only John McCain has the courage and the experience and the wisdom to get this economy back on track.”

Like her running mate, Palin promised the GOP faithful that an upset was in the making.

“You can just feel it here in Ohio,” she said, according to local media. “Victory is coming.” 

Palin left Ohio midday and headed to a rally in Jefferson, Mo., where she again blistered the Demcorats’ economic plan, charging: “Sen. Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes.”

She’ll continue on to events in Dubuque, Iowa and Colorado Springs, Co., finishing the day with two rallies in Nevada.

Palin’s opposite number on the Democratic ticket tried to fire up Democrats in Lee’s Junction, Mo., by warning that his ticket has not won the election yet, and accusing Republicans of trying to tear town their campaign.

“They’re calling [Sen. Obama] every name in the book,” said Biden, according to news reports. “Tomorrow night they’re going to be calling him something else: the forty-fourth president of the United States.”

On a flight to Ohio, Biden told reporters he was not concerned that his penchant for gaffes might be costing his ticket votes.

“I don’t think there have been any real gaffes,” he said. “I don’t have any problem with what I’ve said. There’s nothing I’ve said that I’d back off of.”

A morning round of Quinnipiac polls showed the Obama-Biden ticket with a steady, if not overwhelming advantage in several key swing states. In Florida, Obama led McCain 47 percent to 45 percent, and posted wider leads in Ohio, where he was ahead by 7 points, and Pennsylvania, where he led McCain 52 percent to 42 percent.

On Sunday evening, McCain campaign adviser Rick Davis asserted that McCain could pull out a win, despite polls showing him at a disadvantage, thanks to persistent concerns about Obama among undecided voters.

“If Obama hasn’t closed the deal with them after two years in the campaign and a year as the nominee of their party, maybe they’re holding out for a good reason,” Davis said, acknowledging: “It’s just a tough environment. And we’re not playing on a level playing field.”

Carrie Budoff Brown, Jonathan Martin, Victoria McGrane, Amie Parnes and Ben Smith contributed to this report.