IN THE HEADLINESObama talks on election eve like a man who expects he’s going to win presidency … McCain speeds across 7 states in campaign finale … Palin offers optimism in Ohio Democratic suburb; draws 17,000 in Missouri … Biden tells suburban Kansas City crowd that his ticket offers most relief for middle class … Obama’s grandmother dies … Early voting: Democrats cast more ballots than GOP___Obama on election eve: A guy who expects to winJACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Barack Obama acts like a guy who expects to win.Just look at his election eve schedule. While John McCain rushed around to seven states for last-minute campaigning on Monday, Obama didn’t appear before voters until after 11 a.m., the first of just three events for the day.Before that, he did radio interviews from his hotel room — then he headed out in sweat pants and a cap for a 45-minute workout at a gym.”What is the one thing at this point that has you a little bit concerned?” syndicated radio host Russ Parr asked.”You know, I feel pretty peaceful, Russ, I gotta say,” Obama replied. “Because my attitude is, if we’ve done everything we can do, then it’s up to the people to decide. And the question is going to be who wants it more. And I hope that our supporters want it bad, because I think the country needs it.”Obama’s supporters were fired up. About 9,000 came to his event in conservative-leaning Jacksonville, while across the state in Tampa, McCain drew less than 1,000. Obama’s crowd was decked out in campaign T-shirts that said things like “Obama is my homeboy,” and stood in their seats at Veterans Memorial Arena before he got there, dancing to a warm-up soundtrack that included India.Arie’s song, “There’s Hope.”___’Never give up,’ McCain exhorts on 7-state finaleINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — John McCain often tells campaign audiences he doesn’t hide from history. He surely didn’t on Monday, undertaking an energetic march across seven battleground states on the last day of a long presidential contest the opinion polls said he was trailing.”I’m an American, and I choose to fight!” McCain proclaimed at rallies in Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana and just outside Virginia. It was a pledge of defiance amid a blizzard of late polls showing Barack Obama leading in most competitive states, leaving McCain with only the narrowest possible path to victory Tuesday night.”When I’m president,” he said repeatedly through the day, filling in a litany of the good things to follow: More jobs, lower energy costs. A president who would bring change and not just talk about it.The Arizona senator’s 18-hour east-to-west odyssey would later take him to New Mexico, Nevada and home to Phoenix in the early morning of Tuesday’s Election Day. Buoyed by what campaign manager Rick Davis said was a promising surge in Western battleground state polling, the campaign was even adding stops on Tuesday, in New Mexico and Colorado.___Palin rallies supporters in Ohio, MissouriJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin offered optimism to a boisterous crowd in an Ohio Democratic stronghold and pepped up a huge rally in conservative central Missouri on an election eve dash through five contested states.Palin played up her rural connections on her third trip in 10 days to Missouri, where polls show Republican presidential candidate John McCain is about even with Democratic candidate Barack Obama. She drew a crowd estimated by state police at more than 17,000 to the steps of the state Capitol, which is located in the Republican-leaning rural center of Missouri.She strode down the Capitol steps in blue jeans, clapped in the background to country music singer Hank Williams Jr. and exited as “Redneck Woman” played over loudspeakers dangling from cranes.The Alaska governor elicited boos from the crowd when she said, “Barack Obama is for bigger government and for higher taxes.” Missouri has a reputation as a low-tax state.___Biden rallies suburban MO DemocratsLEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. (AP) — Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden made a last-minute pitch for swing-state Missouri on Monday, vowing that he and Barack Obama would “re-establish the middle class” by focusing on job creation and helping homeowners facing foreclosure.”For too many families who are working hard, playing by the rules … people can see it slipping from their grasp,” Biden told a crowd of about 1,500 at the Longview Community College Recreation Center south of Kansas City. “We are on the cusp of a new brand of leadership.”On the eve of the election, Biden highlighted the nation’s financial crisis and said Obama would offer a three-month moratorium for homeowners facing foreclosure. He also jabbed Republican Sen. John McCain, saying there was “literally not one fundamental economic difference between John McCain and George Bush.”He later repeated a sarcastic barb about the Republican ticket of McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.”Hey, maverick. Hey, maverick,” Biden said to roars of laughter. “I mean, give me a break.___Obama’s grandmother dies 2 days before electionHONOLULU (AP) — Barack Obama’s grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.Obama announced the news on election eve from Charlotte, N.C., where he was campaigning. The joint statement issued with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died peacefully late Sunday night after a battle with cancer.They said: “She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility. She was the person who encouraged and allowed us to take chances.”___Drumbeat for early voting pays off for Obama teamDENVER (AP) — The drumbeat to vote early is paying dividends for Barack Obama, especially in key battleground states in the South and West where Democrats have cast many more ballots than Republicans — and even in states where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats.About one-third of the electorate was expected to vote before Election Day, largely to avoid long lines at the polls.”It was so easy. I filled in my ballot with my wife over dinner and then dropped it off on the way to work,” said Tony Amadeo, 27, one of almost 1.5 million people who cast early ballots in Colorado, where for the first time a majority of votes in a presidential race will be cast in advance.More than 29 million people in 30 states have already voted, according to partial state and county data provided to The Associated Press, and that number was projected to rise to 44 million out of 137 million total votes nationally, according to estimates by Edison Media Research and George Mason University political scientist Michael McDonald.That would be an early vote of 32 percent of this year’s electorate, up from 22 percent in 2004 and 15 percent in 2000.So far, Democrats have submitted 1 million more ballots than Republicans, though registration does not always indicate who voters choose for president.___DAILY TRACKDemocrat Barack Obama has a 13-percentage-point lead over Republican John McCain — 53 percent to 40 percent — among registered voters, according to the latest Gallup Poll daily tracking update. Obama’s lead on Sunday was 11 points.___THE DEMOCRATSBarack Obama campaigns in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.Joe Biden campaigns in Missouri, Ohio and Philadelphia.___THE REPUBLICANSJohn McCain campaigns in Florida, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Indiana, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona.Sarah Palin campaigns in Ohio, Missouri, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.___QUOTE OF THE DAY:”Don’t give up hope. Be strong. Have courage and fight. Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what’s right for America.” — John McCain.___STAT OF THE DAY:Just 44 percent of whites supporting Republican John McCain say the campaign interests them, compared to 58 percent of whites and 72 percent of blacks supporting Democrat Barack Obama, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll.
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