Down the home stretch

AUSTIN, Texas -- As voting booths were rolled into place this weekend, the two men vying for the nation's highest office continued their ferocious battle for the electoral votes that will determine tomorrow's contest. Both Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush led their respective campaigns through crucial battleground states over the weekend, wrapping up a heated race in the territories that experts say will most likely swing the election. Gore concentrated his efforts in several key midwestern states, as well as on obtaining Pennsylvania's vital 23 electoral votes -- considered by many to be the key to victory. The vice president swept through the Keystone State beginning on Wednesday, as he and running mate Joe Lieberman made frequent weekend stops at sites near Pittsburgh and Scranton and in Philadelphia. Yesterday, Gore visited several traditionally black churches in the city and urged congregants to maintain the nation's economic prosperity by voting the Democratic ticket on Election Day. "The question on the ballot is prosperity itself," Gore said yesterday during a Center City appearance. "The question on the ballot is what should we do with this prosperity." While Gore was stumping in Philadelphia, his Republican opponent was shuttling back and forth between Pennsylvania and the equally vital state of Florida -- where 25 crucial electoral votes remain up for grabs despite a heavy push from Bush's popular brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. The Texas governor began his weekend with some damage control, as he attempted to manage the news that he was arrested in 1976 on a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol near his parents' home in Kennebunkport, Maine. "It's an accurate story," he said during a hastily arranged news conference on Thursday night. "I'm not proud of that. I've often times said that years ago I made some mistakes. I regretted that it happened. I learned my lesson." Bush and vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney, like Gore and Lieberman, also frequented Pennsylvania, where they attracted thousands of rallying supporters in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs, as well as in the state's heavily Republican central region. Bush used one of his Pennsylvania visits to attack his opponent's campaign rhetoric. "One of [Gore's] favorite phrases is, 'You ain't seen nothing yet' -- and he's right, we haven't seen anything yet," Bush said at a rally in suburban Glendale on Saturday. Despite Bush's attack, Gore campaign officials said that they remain confident that the vice president will prevail on Tuesday. Gore campaign spokesman Dan Pfeiffer pointed to a Gore rally in Florida where, he said, Gore drew 12,000 supporters to a Florida rally -- compared to 5,000 that showed up to a comparable Bush event in the same area. As both candidates tear through the half a dozen or so states that will determine the election, the polls continue to show that this year may be the closest presidential contest in recent history. As of last night, the latest ABC News tracking poll, for example, shows Bush leading with 49 percent of support, compared to Gore's 45 percent and 3 percent for Green Party nominee Ralph Nader. An MSNBC/Reuters/Zogby poll, meanwhile, showed a closer race, with Bush at 46 percent, Gore at 44 percent and Nader at 6 percent. The tight race has raised the focus on the toss-up states even further, as pundits continue to speculate on the many possible state-by-state electoral outcomes. And with key states like Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin still very much up in the air, both candidates intend to continue their push all the way through Election Day. Bush plans on rallying the troops today in Chattanooga, Tenn., Green Bay, Wis., Davenport, Iowa, and Bentonville, Ark. He'll return home to Austin on Tuesday afternoon, where workers have erected an enormous set of risers in anticipation of the thousands of supporters and media members who are expected to descend upon the sleepy city in the next two days. After stops in Detroit and Wisconsin, Gore plans to wrap up the campaign with 30 straight hours on the stump, starting early today in Waterloo, Iowa, and ending in his hometown of Carthage, Tenn., where he'll vote Tuesday. Gore plans on watching the election results come in at his campaign office in downtown Nashville, Tenn., where workers are already busy planning for crowds that are expected to number in the thousands. The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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