Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain held one of his final rallies in this marathon campaign for the White House in Prescott, Arizona - the hometown of fellow Arizonian, Barry Goldwater who failed to win in 1964 writes Mark Hennessyin Phoenix, Arizona.
Shortly after 2am this morning, Mr McCain spoke to thousands of flag-waving supporters from the steps of Prescott's town hall and thanked them for their support during his duel with Democrat, Barack Obama.
However, the Republican faces difficulties even in his home state from the Obama campaign, with eve-of-voting polls putting the two candidates in a virtual dead-heat, allowing for the margin of error.
"Barry Goldwater from Arizona ran for president and Morris Udall ran for president and Bruce Babbitt from Arizona ran for president and I from Arizona ran for president," he told the Prescott crowd.
Goldwater, his political mentor and the man who ensured that he won one of Arizona's two seats in the United States Senate, used to say, Mr McCain joked, that "Arizona might be the only state in America where mothers don't tell their children that someday they can grow up and be president of the United States."
His voicing breaking a little, he went on: "We're going to reverse that unhappy tradition, he said. His voice wavered when he said enthusiastically, "And I'm going to be the president of the United States."
"You know, I'm confident because I've seen the momentum my friends. I've been in a lot of campaigns and the momentum we've seen in the last several days, we're closing in the polls, all we got to do is get out the vote," he said.
Fighting hard until the end, he declared: "You know, I'm confident because I've seen the momentum my friends. I've been in a lo t of campaigns and the momentum we've seen in the last several days, we're closing in the polls, all we got to do is get out the vote," he said.
However, some leading Republicans have already begun to concede that he cannot win the White House, barring extraordinary developments in key swing states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Karl Rove, the mastermind behind President George Bush's victories today forecast that Obama would win by over 100 votes in the 538-strong electoral colleges, one of the widest margins in recent years.
"The final Rove & Co. electoral map of the 2008 election cycle points to a 338-200 Barack Obama electoral vote victory over John McCain, the largest electoral margin since 1996," he wrote.
The Republican senator, who voted this morning before he embarked on a final round of rallies, finished his campaign in Colorado and New Mexico - two past Republican strongholds, and will travel to the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix later today.