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Barack Obama and John McCain uncorked
massive get-out-the-vote operations in more than a dozen
battleground states Sunday, millions of telephone calls, mailings
and door-knockings in a frenzied, fitting climax to a
record-shattering $1 billion campaign. Together, they'll spend
about $8 per presidential vote.

      With just two days to go, most national polls show Obama ahead
of McCain. State surveys suggest the Democrat's path to the
requisite 270 electoral votes - and perhaps far beyond - is much
easier to navigate than McCain's.

      Obama exuded confidence. "The last couple of days, I've been
just feeling good," he told 80,000 gathered to hear him - and
singer Bruce Springsteen - in Cleveland. "The crowds seem to grow
and everybody's got a smile on their face. You start thinking that
maybe we might be able to win an election on November 4th."

      In Peterborough, N.H., McCain held his final town hall-style
event in the state that put him on the national map in 2000 and
launched his GOP primary comeback eight years later. "I come to
the people of New Hampshire to ask them to let me go on one more
mission," said McCain, who is looking for an upset victory against
Obama.

      Polls show the six closest states are Florida, Indiana,
Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio. All were won by Bush and
made competitive by Obama's record-shattering fundraising. The
campaigns also are running aggressive ground games elsewhere,
including Iowa, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Colorado
and Virginia.

      All that's left now for the candidates is make sure people vote
Tuesday - if they haven't already.

      Indeed, Election Day is becoming a misnomer. About 27 million
absentee and early votes were cast in 30 states as of Saturday
night, more than ever. Democrats outnumbered Republicans in
pre-Election Day voting in key states.

      That has Democrats - and even some Republicans - privately
questioning whether McCain can overtake Obama, even if GOP
loyalists turn out in droves on Tuesday. Obama may already have too
big of a head start in critical states like Nevada and Iowa, which
Bush won four years ago.

      As the campaign closes, voters were being inundated with a crush
of television ads and automated phone calls.

      In a new TV ad, Obama highlighted Vice President Dick Cheney's
support for McCain. The ad features Cheney, an extremely unpopular
figure among the general public, at an event Saturday in Wyoming,
saying: "I'm delighted to support John McCain."

      Not to be outdone, the Republican National Committee rolled out
battleground phone calls that include Hillary Rodham Clinton's
criticism of Obama during the Democratic primary. She is heard
saying: "In the White House, there is no time for speeches and
on-the-job training. Sen. McCain will bring a lifetime of
experience to the campaign, and Sen. Obama will bring a speech that
he gave in 2002." A Clinton spokeswoman said she disapproves of
the ad.

      Another phone call to Pennsylvania and Ohio voters takes Obama's
words about coal-burning technology out of context and claims he
will "bankrupt the coal industry."

      The Pennsylvania GOP also unveiled a TV ad featuring Obama's
former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, declaring "God damn
America!" in a sermon.

      Obama and McCain campaigned on each other's turf Sunday. Obama
was in Ohio, a bellwether state Bush won four years ago and where
polls show Obama tied or winning. McCain visited Pennsylvania and
New Hampshire, states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004. He trails
in both.

      McCain and the RNC dramatically ramped up their spending in the
campaign's final days and now are matching Obama ad for ad, if not
exceeding him, in key battleground markets in states such as
Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

      After months of planning, the Republican Party launched the last
stage of its vaunted "72-hour program," when volunteers descend
on competitive states for the final stretch. Democrats unleashed
their "persuasion army" of backers scouring their own backyards
to encourage people to back Obama in the campaign's waning hours.

      Obama's campaign reported that Saturday was its largest
volunteer day, with more volunteers showing up to work the phones
and walk neighborhood precincts than ever before in the campaign.
Said Obama spokesman Bill Burton, "Our volunteers are completely
engaged."

      McCain's crew says theirs are, too.

      "There's no doubt that we've got an uphill battle," said Rich
Beeson, the RNC's political director. But, "We still have a lot of
voters that we can and will turn out."

      The RNC reported making 5.4 million voter contacts last week,
compared with 1.9 million in the same week in 2004, and it says its
volume has steadily increased since October began. Overall, it says
26 million voters have been contacted by volunteers over four
months. On Saturday alone, the RNC said, an estimated 3 million
voters were contacted by phone or in person.

      McCain planned visits to media markets that hit battlegrounds
Florida, Virginia, Indiana, New Mexico, and Nevada on Monday. A
repeat trip to Pennsylvania also was slated before McCain returns
home to Arizona.

      Obama planned visits to Florida, North Carolina and Virginia on
Monday and a quick stop in Indiana Tuesday morning. He told
reporters he would hold a news conference on Wednesday. Later,
Obama spokeswoman Linda Douglass walked back Obama's plans, saying
he'll meet the press before the end of the week, but "don't count
on Wednesday."

Gallery

Barack Obama and John McCain uncorked
massive get-out-the-vote operations in more than a dozen
battleground states Sunday.

Campaigns uncork get-out-the-vote operations

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