One day to win or lose America

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney remained in a tie in the polls released just days before the election.

ONE day left in their stubbornly deadlocked race, President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney are storming through a final exhaustive campaign push that won't end until the wee hours of Election Day in pursuit of every possible vote.

Both candidates say the winner will be determined by which of their operations can get the most supporters to the polls. "This is going to be a turnout election," the president declared in an interview airing on Monday morning as he pleaded with urban radio listeners to get to the polls.

"We have one job left," and that's getting people out to vote, Mr Romney told more than a thousand people just off the tarmac at the airport in Sanford, Florida. The crowd chanted "One more day!"

With national polls showing a neck-and-neck race, the final day's schedule showed where the two campaigns believe the race will be decided. Mr Romney was in Florida, Virginia, and New Hampshire, while Mr Obama was trying to protect Wisconsin from an eleventh-hour challenge from the GOP before heading to Iowa.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a baby as he greets supporters during a campaign rally in Sanford, Florida.

And in an indication of just how all-important Ohio was once again to the future occupancy of the White House, both candidates planned to be on the ground in Columbus on Monday evening for dueling rallies seven miles apart.

Whoever wins Ohio has a simpler path to amass the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the presidency. With Mr Obama showing a lead in most polls of the state's likely voters, Mr Romney voiced guarded optimism on Sunday in Cleveland, saying Mr Obama's re-election is "possible, but not likely."

Mr Obama also raised the possibility of defeat as he pleaded with listeners of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show to get to the polls. "If we don't turn out the vote, we could lose a lot of the gains we've already made," Mr Obama said.

US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally in Aurora, Colorado. Mr Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are both showing signs of exhaustion as they dart from swing state to swing state in a last-ditch effort to fire up enthusiasm.

It was one of two of the president's radio interviews airing on Monday aimed at turning out minority voters, the other with a Spanish-language station in Ohio. The president is relying on black and Hispanic voters to help offset Mr Romney's lead with white men in particular, but the risk for him is that some of those key supporters aren't as motivated to vote as they were in 2008.

"Four years ago, we had incredible turnout and I know people were excited and energized about the prospect of making history," Mr Obama said. "We have to preserve the gains we've made and keep moving forward."

Both candidates will also benefit from some star power. Rock legend Bruce Springsteen is joining Mr Obama at all three campaign rallies, and rapper Jay-Z will join him in Columbus. Mr Romney planned a final rally in the last hour of election eve in New Hampshire with Kid Rock while country rock performers The Marshall Tucker Band was joining him in Columbus.

With one day to go until election day, Mitt Romney is making one final push throughout swing states.

A final national NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll showed Mr Obama getting the support of 48 per cent of likely voters, with Mr Romney receiving 47 per cent. A Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll had Mr Obama at 49 and Mr Romney at 48. A Pew Research Centre poll released on Sunday showed Mr Obama with a 3-point-point edge over Mr Romney, 48 per cent to 45 per cent among likely voters.

Defying the odds, Mr Romney drew one of his largest crowds on Sunday in Pennsylvania, a state where Mr Obama was holding onto a lead but where Mr Romney aides said they detected soft support for the president. Despite a delayed arrival, Mr Romney rallied thousands on a farm in a Philadelphia suburb on a cold night, taking the podium as loudspeakers blared the theme from "Rocky." The sign of energy in a key swing area of the state was only tempered by some early exits by supporters seeking to escape the cold.

Mr Obama dispatched former President Bill Clinton to Pennsylvania on Monday for an eleventh-hour bid to keep the state in his column.

Mr Obama greets supporters at a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he told voters he needed their support to win a tight election.

Meanwhile, about 30 million people have already voted in 34 states and the District of Columbia, either by mail or in person, although none will be counted until Election Day on Tuesday. More than 4 million of the ballots were cast in Florida, where Democrats filed a lawsuit demanding an extension of available time. A judge granted their request in one county where an early voting site was shut down for several hours on Saturday because of a bomb scare.

Both men were spending the final days of the campaign presenting themselves as can-do leaders willing to break partisan logjams in Washington.

The former Massachusetts governor warned that a second Obama term would threaten the American economy because of the president's inability to work with Congress. "He's ignored them, he's attacked them, he's blamed them," Mr Romney said.

 Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally in Newport News, Virginia.

Mr Obama cited bipartisan work on middle-class tax cuts and on ending the Pentagon's don't-ask-don't-tell policy, but warned that he would not compromise away his priorities, such as health care. "I'm not willing to pay that price," he said.

As aides for both candidates looked for early marks of success, there were signs for the superstitious. Since 1936, with only one exception, whenever the Washington Redskins won on the Sunday before the election, the incumbent party would retain the White House. On Sunday, the Redskins lost to the Carolina Panthers, giving hope to Republicans.

But the Obama camp often compares this election to 2004, when President George W. Bush held the White House in his race against Democrat John Kerry. That year was the exception to the rule; the Redskins lost, and so did Kerry.

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