President George W. Bush, his re-election bid hanging in the balance, went on a last sweep through battleground states yesterday urging get-out-the-vote efforts in his race with Democrat John Kerry.
"I'm asking for your help, and there's no doubt in my mind, with your help we will win Ohio again and win a great victory," Mr Bush said as polls showed a possible cliffhanger outcome in today's election and the state of Ohio a key to victory in his extraordinarily tight race with Mr Kerry.
Mr Bush's Marine One helicopter brought the president to an early morning rally at a Wilmington airport hangar before thousands of cheering supporters. Mr Bush won Ohio in 2000 but 230,000 job losses have put the state in play.
It was the first stop on a 16-hour sweep through the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Mexico. He was ending up late in Dallas.
"On to victory!" Mr Bush told the Ohio crowd. Mr Bush is in the fight of his political life. Either he wins re-election to a second four-year term or joins his father as a president who had high approval ratings early in his term but went on to lose.
In a trimmed stump speech, Mr Bush played up his strength in fighting the war on terror, vowing to "use every asset at our disposal" to protect Americans.
"I will never relent in defending America, whatever it takes," he said, days after a threatening videotape from Osama bin Laden surfaced.
He hammered away at Mr Kerry as a man who would raise taxes on all Americans to pay for ambitious spending plans and who has been "consistently wrong" on national security decisions for the past 20 years.
Mr Bush said the country's future safety and prosperity were on the ballot.
"Ultimately this election comes down to, who do you trust? who do you trust to make the tough decisions? Who do you trust to lead this country to a better tomorrow?" he said.
On the Iraq war, Mr Bush said the situation was dangerous, but "think how far that society has come since the days of torture chambers and mass graves. There will be presidential elections in January. I believe every soul desires to be free".
As he walked toward Air Force One after the event, Mr Bush gave a thumbs-up and said, "Oh yeah!" when asked how he was going to do.
After voting in Crawford, Texas, Mr Bush was likely to make at least one stop on the way back to Washington today to exhort his supporters to the polls on Election Day.
With Mr Bush in Wilmington was a World Series hero, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who was forced to cancel a campaign event with Mr Bush last week in New Hampshire due to what was described as his ailing ankle.
Mr Schilling said Mr Bush would lead the fight against terrorism and support US troops in combat.
"Those troops deserve all of our support and all of our thanks. There's something something else we an do for them. We can make sure we elect the president, who supports them every step of the way," Mr Schilling said.
Mr Bush told NBC News on Sunday he hoped the winner, "whichever one of us wins," will be known tonight to avoid a bitter recount battle like he had in 2000.