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| President Barack Obama is flanked on stage by musicians Jay-Z, left, and Bruce Springsteen at a campaign event at Nationwide Arena, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. |
COLUMBUS, Ohio
(AP) -- The White House the prize, President Barack Obama and Mitt
Romney raced through a final full day of campaigning on Monday through
Ohio and other battleground states holding the keys to victory in a
tight race. Both promised brighter days ahead for a nation still
struggling with a sluggish economy and high joblessness.
"Our
work is not done yet," Obama told a cheering crowd of nearly 20,000 in
chilly Madison, Wis., imploring his audience to give him another four
years.
Romney projected optimism as he neared
the end of his six-year quest for the presidency. "If you believe we can
do better. If you believe America should be on a better course. If
you're tired of being tired ... then I ask you to vote for real change,"
he said in a Virginia suburb of the nation's capital. With many of the
late polls in key states tilting slightly against him, he decided to
campaign on Election Day in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he and
Republicans made a big, late push.
The
presidency aside, there are 33 Senate seats on the ballot Tuesday, and
according to one Republican official, a growing sense of resignation
among his party's rank and file that Democrats will hold their majority.
The
situation was reversed in the House, where Democrats made no claims
they were on the verge of victory in pursuit of the 25 seats they need
to gain control.
National opinion polls in the presidential race made the popular vote a virtual tie.
In
state-by-state surveys, it appeared Obama held small advantages in
Nevada, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin - enough to deliver a second term if
they endured, but not so significant that they could withstand an
Election Day surge by Romney supporters. Both men appealed to an ever
smaller universe of undecided voters.
More
than 30 million absentee or early ballots have been cast, including in
excess of 3 million in Florida. The state also had a legal controversy,
in the form of a Democratic lawsuit seeking an extension of time for
pre-Election Day voting.
There were other concerns, logistical rather than legal.
Officials
in one part of New Jersey delivered voting equipment to emergency
shelters so voters displaced by Superstorm Sandy last week could cast
ballots. New York City made arrangements for shuttle buses to provide
transportation for some in hard-hit areas unable to reach their polling
places.
Judging from the long early voting
lines in some places and the comments made in others, the voters were
more than ready to have their say.
"I watch
the news all the time, and I am ready for it to be over," said Jennifer
Walker, 38, of Columbus, Ohio, who said she took time off from work to
attend the president's speech during the day in a show of support. "I
feel like he is getting better with the economy. I don't think it's
hopeless. It takes time."
But Bryan Dobes, 21,
a University of Iowa student from suburban Chicago, voted for Romney on
Monday and said unemployment and spending have been too high under
Obama. "He promised a lot of hope and change, and I'm not seeing it," he
said of the president.
"No retreat, no
surrender," sang rock icon Bruce Springsteen, warming up Obama's crowd
on a frosty morning outside the State Capitol in Madison, Wis. The Boss
then boarded Air Force One for his first flight. "Pretty cool," he
judged it.
Romney had Kid Rock and the Marshall Tucker Band in the wings for his late appearances in Ohio and New Hampshire.
"This is it," the challenger said in a last-minute emailed request for campaign donations.
"I
will lead us out of this economic crisis by implementing pro-growth
policies that will create 12 million new jobs. With your help, I will
deliver real change and a real recovery. America will be strong again."
In
his longest campaign day, Romney raced from Florida to a pair of
speeches in Virginia to Ohio and then an election eve rally in New
Hampshire.
Obama selected Wisconsin, Ohio and
Iowa for his final campaign day, an itinerary that reflected his
campaign's decision to try and erect a Midwestern firewall against
Romney's challenge.
Vice President Joe Biden and Republican running mate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin went through their final campaign paces, as well.
In
Sterling, Va., not far from Washington, the vice president accused
Republicans of running away from their record, but added, "a leopard
can't change his spots."
Ryan started out in
Reno, Nev., where he said the president has come up short in his
promises to change Washington and repair the economy.
"This
may be the best that Barack Obama can offer, but this is not the best
America can," he said, before flying off to Colorado and Ohio. Then it
was home to Wisconsin, where he is on the ballot for re-election to
Congress in case Republicans were unsuccessful in the presidential
campaign.
Conscientious to the end, supporters kept knocking on doors in search of a possibly decisive vote.
In
Enfield, N.H., Obama volunteer Sarah Ayres recalled driving up a
deserted dirt road, unsure if she would find the house she was looking
for. She turned down a long driveway, she said, got out of her car, and
was met by a friendly, white goat.
"There were no people home, but the goat was there, so I don't know if I should count that as a contact," she joked.
