KEY POINTS:
John McCain fought to the bitter end, branding himself "Super Mac" as he mounted a vigorous last-ditch tour of the crucial south-western swing states that still appeared to offer hope of a narrow path to victory.
The Republican candidate, who began by voting at the Albright United Methodist Church in Phoenix, broke with tradition to spend election day touring the historically Republican states of Colorado and New Mexico.
In a freewheeling series of speeches that saw him grow hoarser as the day wore on, Mr McCain appeared to revel in the role of underdog, rediscovering the buzz missing from his campaign as he exhorted supporters not to give up.
"I'm an American and I choose to fight. Don't give up hope, be strong, have courage and fight!" he declared, in a speech repeated throughout his final round of rallies.
Though the polls showed him facing an uphill battle, a visibly invigorated candidate also took to the airwaves to assure supporters that he retained a sporting chance of victory. "I think these battleground states have now closed up, almost all of them," he said in an interview with CBS.
"Look, I know I'm still the underdog, I understand that. But you can't imagine ... you can't imagine the excitement of being an individual to be this close to the most important position in the world. I'll enjoy it ... I'll enjoy it and I'll never forget it as long as I live."
The Arizona senator spoke at a lunchtime rally in Grand Junction, Colorado, before heading to New Mexico, where he trailed by roughly five points in the polls. He planned to watch early results at his campaign headquarters in Phoenix before joining nearly 7,000 supporters at an election night party at the city's Biltmore Hotel. Win or lose, he was scheduled to broadcast a closing speech from the hotel lawn early this morning.
The Biltmore has been lucky for Mr McCain in the past. It was where he married his wife, Cindy, and where he gathered supporters on the night of "super Tuesday" when he effectively clinched the Republican nomination. His final round of events completed an almost impossibly hectic 48 hours, in which Mr McCain defied his 72 years to hop-scotch from east to west across the nation, sucking sore throat sweets as he visited tightly-poised states from Florida to Nevada.
"I've seen the momentum, my friends, I've been in a lot of campaigns, I've seen the momentum. We're closing in the polls," he told supporters in Prescott, Arizona.
In Phoenix, where Mr McCain normally relaxes on election day by visiting a cinema, volunteers packed into his campaign headquarters to man phones.
Although the Democrats have poured resources into Arizona n the party's national chairman, Howard Dean, has been campaigning here in recent days, and some late polls have rated it a "toss-up" - Republican strategists said they were confident of avoiding defeat in the candidate's home state.
"I think we'll be safe here, even if the exit polls say we'll lose," said Wes Gullett, co-chairman of Arizona Republicans. "I would estimate that we've been outspent in Arizona by about 10 to one. It's had an effect, but we've been strong enough to survive."
In the wider race for the White House, many McCain supporters also claimed to be confident of victory. "Polls are tightening nationally, especially in key places like Florida and Pennsylvania," said Joe Miller, a student who was manning a phone bank.
"This is classic John McCain. He's surging back at the last moment."
Christina Wood, who was standing on a Phoenix street corner brandishing a sign asking "Do you really want to share your wealth with Obama?" was even more bullish.
"Of course I think we're going to win. I don't believe the polls. Have you heard of the Bradley Effect?" she asked, referring to the theory that black candidates may fall well off expectations in elections, because voters do not want to appear racist when questioned by pollsters. It seemed a slim, and somewhat shameful, basis for hope.
- INDEPENDENT
