Democrat Al Gore exhorted party faithful in key states to help him triumph November 7 over George W. Bush and rescue progressive causes from the jaws of the Republican's "dog-eat-dog" philosophy.
Months of campaigning have whittled down the block of undecided voters but left an unusually large number of key states still in play, meaning turnout of loyalists could tip the scales in the cliffhanger contest, perhaps the closest in 40 years.
In frenzied recent campaigning, Gore has stoked organized African-Americans and unions -- two core Democratic constituencies -- while stepping up attacks on Bush as a tool of big corporate interests who lacks the experience needed for the top job.
In Huntington, West Virginia, a tired-sounding Gore passionately leveled what may have been his fiercest attack on the Texas governor to date, diagnosing his rival with "an ingrained hostility" towards government.
Drawing energy from cheering supporters, he denounced "a preference on the other side for a dog-eat-dog, every person to himself, mentality that works fine for the very wealthy, but does not work very well always for those who are struggling."
Down in national opinion surveys just 72 hours before the polls open, Gore hoped to drive diehard supporters to seek enough converts to carry vote-rich battleground states key to his quest to get the winning 270 Electoral College votes.
On Sunday, he was to campaign in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dearborn, Michigan; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and finally head overnight to Iowa.
"There's not much time before the choice on election day ... my friends, I ask for your prayers and I ask for your support," Gore implored the congregation at a black church here in a voice worn by scouring the nation for votes.
"Justice is on the ballot election Tuesday. Prosperity is on the ballot," he proclaimed, his voice rising to a near shout to be heard above the cheers and applause coming from row upon row of packed wooden pews.
And in a stunning move that caught campaign aides by surprise, he invited his listeners to a largely white union rally across town, urging: "Too frequently, the communities that make up America meet separately."
"We're going to carry Pennsylvania," he shouted hoarsely at the ensuing gathering, predicting victory as he does in each state on his frenzied eleventh-hour itinerary.
Organized labor, fearful that Bush's ties to large corporate interests could lead to a rollback of their influence, were flexing their considerable political muscle nationwide, spending tens of millions of dollars in ads and get-out-the-vote drives.
Gore has refused to give up hope of capturing Republican-leaning Tennessee, where he was running neck-and-neck with Bush and could face the humiliating fate of becoming the first major-party candidate to lose his home state since 1972.
"You know that however down we find ourselves, we can be lifted up," the vice president told a prayer breakfast in Memphis, Tennessee hosted by black church leaders, including the son of slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.
"On Tuesday morning, very early, before the sun rises, in congregations all across Memphis, you're going to be saying, 'Wake up, it's time to take your souls to the polls," he stressed in a speech rich in Biblical references, delivered in the rhythmic cadence of a call to prayer instead of a rehashed campaign stump speech.
Later in the day , Gore and wife Tipper refused to let uncertainty about the high-stakes battle's outcome make them break their perfect attendance at son Albert Gore III's football games, traveling to Washington for several hours -- PITTSBURGH (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
