Sen. Barack Obama saved his biggest Virginia rally for last -- attracting more than 85,000 people to the Prince William County Fairgrounds on the eve of Election Day. The Democratic presidential nominee's final major rally before voters head to the polls brought Obama back to where he kicked off his general-election race five months ago -- Northern Virginia.

"I know Virginia's ready to bring about change in America," Obama told a roaring crowd that waited hours under a "Vote for Change" sign for their candidate to appear. "It starts here, Virginia," he said.

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Senator Barack Obama closed with a classic.

At the final campaign rally of his presidential bid, Mr. Obama dusted off a chant here Monday night that sustained the first year of his candidacy, a tale born last year in South Carolina that has since been told around the nation.

It is the story of "Fired Up, Ready To Go," a spontaneous call and response from a woman named Edith Childs, which Mr. Obama turned into the spoken anthem of his campaign. It originated in the early stages of the primary, when Mr. Obama was miles away from being the front-running candidate in the field of Democrats.

So when he visited the town of Greenwood, he met Ms. Childs, who lit up one of his docile campaign meetings with her signature chant. She yells, "Fired up," the rest of the crowd responds, "Ready to Go." The point of the story, as retold again and again by Mr. Obama, is that one voice can change a room. And, by extension, can change the world.

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Seeking to keep Democrats motivated, Barack Obama kept his focus on John McCain today as he made the first of three campaign stops in Atlantic Coast states that went Republican in 2004.

In the final critical hours before Tuesday's election, Obama hammered McCain for saying in September that the "fundamentals of our economy are strong" during a campaign stop in the same building.

"John McCain just doesn't get it. Remember what he said when he was here in Jacksonville on September 15th?" the Illinois Democrat asked a less-than-capacity audience of about 9,000 inside Veterans Memorial Arena.

"That day, more than 5,000 jobs were lost. More than 7,000 homes were foreclosed on. The day before, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said we were in a 'once in a century' crisis," he said. "And yet, despite our economic crisis, John McCain actually came here ... and repeated something he's said at least sixteen times on this campaign. He said - and I quote - 'the fundamentals of our economy are strong.'"

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"In a marathon, when you are on mile 20 you start getting tired, but when you are on mile 25 you don't," said Mr. Lippert, who has grown familiar with Mr. Obama's travel rhythms while accompanying him on the four foreign trips he has taken since becoming a senator. "That's where he's at."

Whatever emotions or anxiety Mr. Obama feels as his candidacy draws to a close, he displays little of it, either in public appearances or private conversations with his close advisers. The air of confidence he exudes, which some critics take as arrogance, grew in part out of the primary, when he worked to avoid perceptions that he was weak or not ready.

But now, he is described by friends as feeling as though he has been thoroughly tested and is prepared to take on the job he has spent 22 months fighting for. Still, it is hard for even those closest to Mr. Obama to fathom what these days are precisely like, even for the unflappable - often inscrutable - senator from Illinois.

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On a fall day masquerading as summer, Barack Obama urged an estimated 60,000 people at the Statehouse yesterday to guard against overconfidence and complacency by voting Tuesday to put him in the White House.

"Ohio, I have just two words for you: two days," Obama said from the west lawn, as the Capitol's magnificent limestone pillars served as a backdrop and a sea of humanity faced him along State, Broad and High streets and beyond.

"In two days, at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change it needs."

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MANASSAS, Va. - Barack Obama ended his history-making campaign for the presidency at a mammoth rally here late Monday, making an appeal for votes in a state that hasn't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

"Virginia, your voice can change the world tomorrow," the Democratic nominee told a crowd of more than 90,000 at a fairground.

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In a fiery speech billed as the closing argument of his presidential campaign, Democrat Barack Obama pledged to represent the needs and values of middle-class Americans and unite the nation at a time of a severe economic crisis. "Pittsburgh, I've got two words for you: One week," Obama said Monday. The Mellon Arena crowd of about 15,800 roared when he added: "We are one week away from bringing change to America." "The choice in this election isn't between tax cuts and no tax cuts," Obama said. "It's about whether you believe we should only reward wealth, or whether we should also reward the work and workers who create it." Obama again pitched his tax plan promising to "give a tax break to 95 percent of Americans who work every day and get taxes taken out of their paychecks every week."

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Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking to a young crowd of about 45,250 at Colorado State University, urged them to vote early, to keep the faith and promised to find ways to help with tuition if they were willing to serve their country. “I’m going to make a deal with you,” he said. “If you’re willing to commit to joining the military, to joining the Peace Corps, or whatever way you decide to serve, then we are going to make sure you have the money to go to college, no ifs, ands or buts.” Speaking on the lawn to students who had been gathering since 4 a.m., Obama urged them to put an end to the philosophies of President George Bush and Sen. John McCain.

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Campaigning in Orlando for the first time since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama rallied an estimated 40,000 supporters at Amway Arena on Monday, saying he'd offer a "rescue plan for the middle class" by creating "jobs, baby, jobs." Obama, joined by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, said Americans had suffered through two terms of the "failed policies" of President Bush -- policies Obama claims Republican John McCain would continue. "It'll take a real change in the policies and politics of the last eight years," Obama said. "We've got to reverse the last eight years. And that's what this election is all about." Obama said he would spend $15 billion creating new jobs in the field of renewable energy and the auto industry. "Jobs," he said, "building fuel-efficient cars made not in Japan, not in South Korea, but right here in the United States of America."

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Helen Henderson, 82 years old and African American, sat in the sunshine at 52d and Locust Streets yesterday, waiting for Barack Obama to arrive. She said she felt excited, honored and blessed. "I never thought I'd live to see a black man in the White House," said the retired nurse, who lives in University City. "I sent him a small contribution in the mail. I owe it to him because he's taking a chance for us. I pray for him." Yesterday, thousands of African Americans and other Philadelphians got to see and hear the Democratic presidential candidate. On a warm and cloudless Saturday, Obama did something he had never done before in the campaign - make four consecutive stops in the same city, stumping mostly in black neighborhoods.

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With the economic news as gloomy as the gray skies overhead, Sen. Barack Obama promised thousands of cheering Hoosiers on Wednesday that "there are better days ahead."...Obama -- speaking to a crowd at the grandstand at the State Fairgrounds that the state Division of Fire and Building Safety estimated at 21,000 -- said "this isn't the time for fear or panic." But he acknowledged the anxiety that many feel. In 1980, he noted, Ronald Reagan asked voters whether they were better off than they were four years earlier. The way things are now, Obama said, Americans wonder whether they're better off than they were four weeks ago.

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When Michigan is the stop, presidential candidates turn to the economy, and Sen. Barack Obama went straight to work in Detroit on Sunday, railing against Wall Street and Washington for the current financial crisis. Michigan has the nation's highest unemployment rate, at 8.9%; more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs have evaporated, and the mortgage foreclosure rate is among the highest in the nation. "We meet here at a time of great uncertainty in Detroit and all across America," Obama said. "The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has led us to a financial crisis as serious as any we have faced since the Great Depression. Travonne Young, 42, of Detroit hears hundreds of distressing stories a day from people who need help. As an employee of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a social services agency in Detroit, she said she believes Obama can help swing the economy back from the brink. "Four years is not enough to get it all done," said Young. "But at least he can open the door."

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama slammed rival John McCain for being a latecomer to reform before laying out his vision for streamlining government and managing the economy. Obama’s 45-minute speech Monday on government and regulatory reform in front of about 7,000 people at the Resch Center came as Congress considers a $700 billion bailout of bad loans. Although the Illinois senator urged bipartisan support for the rescue proposal to fix the imminent crisis, he also said such a plan would need accountability. “We cannot give a blank check to Washington with no oversight,” Obama said. “No oversight and no accountability is exactly what got us in this mess in the first place.” Four days after McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin used the same location to tout their economic platform, Obama outlined a series of proposals he says will prevent future financial crises from reaching the bailout stage. The two face off in the Nov. 4 general election.

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About 20,000 people turned out Sunday to hear Barack Obama link John McCain and his party to an "era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington." "They said they wanted to let the market run free, but instead they let it run wild," Obama said. "And now we are facing a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression."…In the heart of the country's second-biggest banking center, Obama called the government's proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout "sobering." He blamed the deregulation generally favored by Republicans. "And yet Sen. McCain, who candidly admitted not long ago that he doesn't know as much about economics as he should, wants to keep going down the same disastrous path.

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The only way to end the petty partisanship that has consumed Washington for so long and make a difference in the lives of ordinary Americans is by bringing Republicans and Democrats together to get things done. That's what I've done throughout over a decade in public office. In Illinois, I reached across the aisle to put a $100 million tax cuts into the pockets of hard-working families. I worked with leaders in both parties to double the number of charter schools in Chicago. And I opposed members of my party to pass the first major ethics reform in 25 years, ending the outrage of politicians pocketing campaign contributions for personal use.

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