DO OR DIE: FINAL CAMPAIGN DAY DAWNS FOR OBAMA, ROMNEY
Monday marks the final, last-ditch attempt by incumbent and challenger to convince the narrowing sliver of undecided
MADISON, Wisconsin, Nov 5, 2012 (AFP) - After a grueling 18-month battle, the final US campaign day arrived Monday for President Barack Obama and rival Mitt Romney, two men on a collision course for the world's top job
he candidates have attended hundreds of rallies, fundraisers and town halls, spent literally billions on attack ads, ground games, and get out the vote efforts, and squared off in three intense debates.
Their running mates --Vice President Joe Biden and Republican congressman Paul Ryan-- have laid out the rationales for their bosses' aspirations; First Lady Michelle Obama, Romney's wife Ann and countless surrogates on both sides have made the case.
Monday marks the final, last-ditch attempt by incumbent and challenger to convince the narrowing sliver of undecided voters that their policies, their platforms, their approach to leading America forward are the right ones come 2013.
And with polls showing that, for the most part, each has as equal a shot at the White House as the other, Obama and Romney will engage in unvarnished efforts to mobilize their core supporters.
“I need you, Ohio,” Obama admitted to a 20,000-strong crowd in Cincinnati, in a state for which both candidates are fighting tooth and nail.
As the clock ticked down to Tuesday's vote, Romney's efforts included a surprise foray into Pennsylvania, a Democratic-leaning state that Republican strategists say is breaking his way.
The two candidates are ef- fectively tied in national polls of the popular vote but Obama appears to have a stronger claim to the battleground states, and if the polls are accurate, seems to be in position to win re-election.
BBC reported Mr Obama and Mr Romney were running almost neck-and-neck in national polls, but polls of many key battlegrounds show Mr Obama narrowly ahead.