"My friends, it's official: There's just one day left until we take America in a new direction," McCain said at a raucous, heavily Hispanic rally in Miami just after midnight.
The candidates' disparate schedules on the last day of the long presidential contest reflected the overall state of the race going into its final hours.
Obama, cruising comfortably ahead in national and many battleground state polls, was starting his day with a late morning rally in Jacksonville, before heading to events in Virginia and North Carolina.
McCain, meanwhile, was struggling to hang onto those and other states that voted for President Bush in 2004 in hopes of preserving a slim path to victory Tuesday night.
The Arizona senator planned a demanding schedule across time zones, beginning early in Tampa and going on to Tennessee, whose media market reaches into Virginia. He was also scheduled to hit Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico and Nevada before ending early Tuesday with a rally in Prescott, Ariz., before returning home to Phoenix.
McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, was racing through five Bush states — Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada — in an effort to boost conservative turnout. The Alaska governor has been a popular draw for many GOP base voters.
Joe Biden, Obama's running mate, was to campaign in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Polls show the six closest states are Florida, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada and Ohio. The campaigns also are running aggressive ground games elsewhere, including Iowa, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Colorado and Virginia.
Breaking with tradition, both candidates planned to campaign on Election Day. McCain scheduled campaign stops in Colorado and New Mexico while Obama was set to make a quick trip to Indiana before returning to Chicago for a massive rally in Grant Park.
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