SPRINGFIELD, Missouri — Democratic Senator Barak Obama and rival Republican John McCain on Sunday, November 2, hurled themselves into a Herculean final 48 hours of one of America's longest White House races.
"We are two days away from changing America, and it's going to start right here in the great state of Ohio," Obama told a crowd of over 60,000 people in front of the Columbus state house, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"In two days, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need."
Obama's wife Michelle joined her husband in exhorting the huge crowd of supporters to remake the nation as the would-be first family put on a loving tableau two days from election day.
She told the rally in the must-win state of Ohio, which carries 20 electoral votes, that the campaign had been an "amazing journey," as young and old found a voice in politics for the first time.
Michelle insisted the race was not about Obama.
"It never was, it never will be. This race is about us, all of you, the millions of you who want to change this country and want to be part of building a different kind of democracy," she said.
"There's this beautiful thing about my husband, he thinks he can do everything," she said, while stressing he could not defeat McCain on his own.
"Now, it's our turn," Michelle. "If we want a leader like Barack Obama, our job is to send him to the White House.
"Barack Obama needs you for the next two days. He's going to need you for the next four years and eight years."
Polls show that the result in Ohio, which narrowly voted Republican in 2004, could still go either way.
Obama, the 47-year-old Illinois senator bidding to become America's first black president, is leading in all national polls against Republican rival John McCain.
In its latest national tracking poll Sunday, Zogby International had Obama on 49.5 percent to McCain's 43.8 percent.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll gave Obama a 53-44 percent lead.
The latest Rasmussen daily poll showed Obama leading with 51 percent of the vote with McCain five points back on 46 percent.
Possible Comeback
Despite more gloomy news from the opinion polls, McCain predicted victory in his election race.
"We are going to win in Pennsylvania, we are going to win this election - I sense it and I know it," he told supporters in Wallingford
"We are going to win here and we are going to bring real change to Washington," he added, in the first of two rallies in the state.
"We've got two days, knock on doors, with your help we can win. We need you to volunteer, we need a new direction and we have to fight for it," the 72-year-old Arizona senator told supporters.
"My friends -- the Mac is Back."
Pennsylvania, a crucial state with a rich harvest of 21 electoral college votes, voted Democratic in 2004.
The state has not been won by a Republican since 1988, and Obama has maintained a steady lead averaging nine points in polls.
McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis said the polls were skewing the true perception of the race.
"There is no doubt that John McCain is increasing his margins in almost every state in the country right now and I think what we're in for is a slam-bang finish," he said on Fox News Sunday.
"He's been counted out before and won these kinds of states, and we're in the process of winning them right now."
The presidential campaign has narrowed down to states that have been reliably Republican in recent elections, or in the case of Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina, that have not voted for a Democratic hopeful in decades.
Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, noted Democrats have had an advantage in early voting in key states like Colorado and Florida.
"In Colorado last time, the Republicans had an 8-point edge in early voting. We have an edge now," he said on ABC's "This Week."
"In Florida, they finished early voting and absentee voting 40,000 votes ahead. We think we're going to have a 350,000 vote edge."
The historic campaign has lasted nearly two years and cost more than $2 billion.
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