Barack's final word for supporters ... Tomorrow

In a confident and emotional closing speech laying claim to "just one word: tomorrow" he promised to renew American politics and heal the divisions of the Bush years.

Around 70,000 people had waited for several hours on a chilly late evening to see Mr Obama's last podium appearance hours before polling stations opened in the East Coast. The rally blocked roads for miles around. "Let's face it," said Mr Obama in a rare moment of lightness, "it's not going to be that much fun getting out of here."

Finishing a day in which he had heard of the death of his grandmother in Hawaii, the Democratic candidate addressed three rallies in North Carolina, Florida and in Manassas, scene of the defeat of Union forces in the first major clash of the civil war.

But Mr Obama, on a seven-point poll lead, did not look like someone contemplating defeat, despite a late surge by John McCain and a renewed attack by the Republicans painting him as a candidate of the far Left.

The man, who started out his White House bid as a fresh-faced young senator with an outside chance of beating Hillary Clinton for his party's nomination, has grown up and aged in the past months. Two deep lines now crease the middle of his forehead, the signs of a gruelling and intense campaign, which has recast the faultlines of US politics.

His motivation of younger, black and female voters is likely to be the decisive factor in ensuring that he passes the magic 270 electoral votes to win, and last night he roused his audience to a tearful orgy of cheering as he left the stage to Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours).

Obama's campaign team have been cautious of pre-empting victory, with one insider saying: "There has always been a danger in Barack appearing as the incumbent before he is elected. People don't like presumption".

Perhaps especially not when it comes to the historic moment when the country could be set to choose its first non-white president.

Last night though, the front-runner effectively declared that tomorrow, he would be on his way to the White House. This pledge was enough to make the crowd scream in ecstatic anticipation.

Much of his speech is now a familiar litany of phrases "a righteous wind is at our backs", "Yes we can!" and promises to heal the damage of the Bush years at home and abroad.

Wary of last-minute lapses, he sticks closely to set messages, interspersed with appeals to local crowds to play their role in changing America by electing him.

This part of north Virginia is rich in "exurbans" newly settled areas on the outer edge of existing towns and a group of voters successfully targeted by George Bush.

Its remaining semi-rural areas are attached to nostalgia and tradition stemming from the state's crucial role in the civil war.

It is a combination that makes it seductive territory for Obama. Winning here would be proof that the Democratic party has been able to shake off its reputation for appealing to white urban liberals in the cities and that it is able to communicate with and represent a more provincial America.

As one of the states likely to declare early tomorrow, it will also give an early guide to the direction of the contest. The man who spoke of "no more blue states and red states: just the United States" knows that his political fortunes will be determined by how many of the populous red (Republican) states he can wrest from the incumbent party.

Mr McCain was deep into defensive territory in the final straight, visiting seven states in a single day in what campaign veterans say is the most frenetic timetable ever embarked on by a candidate at the 11th hour and intended to reassure voters that age has not sapped his energy and drive.

The Republican candidate has fought a spirited last couple of days, confessing to be the underdog.

In last-ditch TV adverts last night, his supporters aired footage of the Rev Jeremiah Wright, the Obamas' controversial pastor damning America, and Mr McCain declared that Mr Obama was "too radical, too risky". But the steep challenge he faces was apparent in the key state of Pennsylvania, where he is trailing some nine points.

In Ohio - a Bush state four years ago - he is contending with a six-point gap, and in Florida it's a four-point difference. As the Fed revealed that it was likely to pump half a trillion dollars into the country's embattled banks, the economic credentials of the candidates have been the major influence in the closing weeks of the campaign.

Mr McCain said yesterday: "When it comes to wealth, he wants to spread it around: I want to make more of it. Senator Obama is in the left lane of politics." Still, as the polls open and America makes its choice, Mr Obama looks like the candidate in the faster lane to the presidency.