Tune In And Turn Out

Campaigning in the last 24 hrs strikes us as a necessary but ultimately inefficient exercise. Most voters have made up their minds, many have already voted. In FL, for example, 4M voters have cast their ballots - that's more than 1/2 the total number of votes cast in '04. The bad news for McCain: Dems have turned out more voters in I-4 counties like Hillsborough (Tampa) and Orange (Orlando).

-- But we know this isn't about swaying voters; it's about boosting turnout. Neither candidate can be complacent, especially when the House and Senate margins are also on the line.

-- For a guy who was criticized for taking weekends off, McCain's been stumping like crazy. He hosted a midnight rally in Tampa 11/2 and is forgoing his usual Election Day movie to hit CO and NM. But even Rick Davis admits this could be over before we even make it to the western time zone if McCain doesn't win at least 5 of these states: VA, PA, FL, OH, IN and NC.

-- For his part, Obama's not coasting either (reflected in his "here in Ohio" slip this a.m., while speaking in FL). Many frontrunners have made the mistake of going soft in the final hours, only to come up short. The Obama camp, however, released an ad that highlighted Cheney's endorsement of McCain. So much for laying off the gas.