Frantic Hours In Dead Heat Race
With only hours left until election day, and polls showing the race still too close to call, the presidential candidates and their running mates will be pushing their voices to the limit and leaving jet trails across the sky in last minute campaign appearances in ten states.
A CBS News/New York Times poll released Sunday shows President Bush leading Sen. John Kerry by 49 percent to 46 percent among likely voters. But it's really a dead heat according to the polls, because that lead is within the statistical margin of error.
President Bush, who is telling voters "stand by me," will make his final appeals in Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin and Texas, where he'll vote on Tuesday.
Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, who is telling voters "this is the moment to hold George Bush accountable," will make his final stump speeches in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio.
Vice President Dick Cheney will carry the GOP message to Hawaii and Nevada Tuesday, while Sen. John Edwards will make his final pitch for the Democrats on a breakneck schedule of stops in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and Florida.
While each candidate is hoping for a big victory, each is also mindful that this election - expected to be very close - could again spark calls for recounts and other legal challenges and each campaign has lawyers ready to deploy if necessary.
"I expect this election is going to be decided Tuesday night, but, given experience, I would be irresponsible if I wasn't prepared to be able to protect every person's right to vote," said Kerry, on the need to be ready for any legal challenges.
President Bush says it's vital the election be decided at the polls and not by the courts.
"We'll see how it goes Tuesday night, but I really think it's important not to have a world of lawsuits that stop the will of the people from going forward," said Mr. Bush, in a "Dateline NBC" interview.
Both candidates charged through the critical battlegrounds of Florida and Ohio Sunday, going from hushed church services to raucous campaign rallies in the closing days of their bitter race for the White House.
Kerry said that if elected he would undertake an unprecedented "flurry of activity" to protect national security that would include quick Cabinet appointments. "I'm going to make America safer and I have some very strong and real steps to take quite immediately to make that happen," Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Mr. Bush emphasized a similar theme. "If you believe America should fight the war on terror with all her might and lead with unwavering confidence," the president said, "I ask you, come stand by me... If you are a Democrat who believes your party has turned too far left in this year, I ask you, come stand with me," Mr. Bush said.
Strategists on both sides said Tuesday's election likely will hinge on which party is successful in getting their voters to the polls after two vastly different and costly campaigns to increase turnout.
Kerry senior adviser Mike McCurry said the Democratic campaign is no longer concerned with generating big turnouts at rallies, but is focused instead on having Kerry make quick stops to attract local media coverage that might help voters decide.
A rash of polls suggests the race for the popular vote is essentially tied after the costliest political advertising campaign in history - more than $600 million spent by the two campaigns, Kerry, their political parties and allied groups.
The election's outcome is also uncertain in the battleground states, the eight or so states where the candidates are vying for a winning margin of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. The campaign's final weekend was clouded by war and terrorism - a videotape by Osama bin Laden and the deaths of eight U.S. Marines in Iraq.
With little new to say after months of speeches and millions in commercials, both candidates hoped to energize their supporters to get to the polls. The two sides have get-out-the-vote operations which are groundbreaking in their size and expense.
The Bush campaign has built a web of neighborhood volunteers who take directions, largely by e-mail, from his Arlington, Va., headquarters. Kerry will depend on a conglomerate of labor, party and liberal issue-driven groups that target and motivate voters with armies of paid workers.
Four years ago, Democratic nominee Al Gore had 90,000 people with specifically assigned jobs working to get out the vote on Election Day. This year, Kerry has 47,000 in Ohio alone - 250,000 nationally. The growth of the Republican operation is just as big, if not bigger.