Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore sprinted frantically toward the finish line of their neck-and-neck presidential race on Monday, as a Reuters/MSNBC tracking poll found last-minute momentum for Gore.
On the eve of Election Day, the tracking poll found the vice president taking a slender two-point lead over Bush, the governor of Texas, 48-46 percent.
Bush had led for the previous 11 straight days. Other surveys found Bush clinging to a small lead in the low single digits. All were within the statistical margin of error.
PHOTO: AFP
The key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Washington also trended for Gore. Florida, arguably the most crucial state of all, was still too close to call with Gore two points ahead.
Bush began Monday in Gore's home state, needling the Democratic nominee by predicting "he's not going to win Tennessee." Later he campaigned in President Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas.
"What a great way to start the last day of a presidential campaign," the Texas governor told 5,000 supporters packed into an aircraft hangar in Chattanooga.
"I, of course, come from Texas and I plan on carrying my home state. My opponent vows to carry his home state. He may win Washington, DC, but he's not going to win Tennessee," Bush said.
His aides were brimming with confidence that the Texan would crown 18 months of ceaseless campaigning with victory.
Gore began a marathon, 30-hour final push for the White House shortly before dawn by reaching out to factory workers in America's heartland.
Standing beneath an umbrella in a steady rain, Gore greeted United Auto Workers union members as they showed up for their shifts at the John Deere Co plant in Waterloo, Iowa.
"Good morning. How you doing? I'd like your vote tomorrow," the vice president said as one worker after another shook his hand and wished him well.
Gore aides said the race would swing on a few states, none more important than Florida.
"If we win Florida, I think we win," said Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat and leading Gore supporter. "But it is going to be close."
"If we get Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, they can't win," said Gore adviser Greg Simon. "That is what we consider our iron triangle."
The real battle was for the 270 votes in the Electoral College needed to win the presidency, which are acquired on a state-by-state basis. The latest Reuters estimate had Bush with 224 votes either firmly in his column or leaning toward him. Gore had 230 votes and 84 were still too close to call.
Gore could win, even if he lost the popular vote, by picking up some of the states still in contention, especially Florida and Pennsylvania.
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