(6 Nov 2000) English/Nat
XFA
U-S presidential candidates George W Bush and Al Gore have been campaigning in the most closely fought regions on the last Sunday before election day.
With less than 48 hours to go in the race for the White House, most polls show Bush with a very slight lead over Gore.
The chase for votes took candidates from pancake houses to pulpits on Sunday as they repeated their messages on Social Security, education and healthcare two days before Tuesday's election.
With his presidential campaign sprinting toward election day, Al Gore visited the closely fought battleground of Michigan.
Gore told thousands at a rally in Dearborn that Michigan is in the driver's seat this Tuesday.
Gore talked about balancing the budget, paying down the national debt, middle-class tax cuts, shoring up Social Security, a patients' bill of rights and education matters that include reducing class sizes and building more classrooms.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Now governor Bush says that he wants to, he'll get along with everybody in Washington. Now listen, honest there's a lot to be said for that, I think we need less partisanship but the question remains, who does he want to get along with? The top 1 percent, the HMO's, the oil companies, the insurance companies, the drug companies - sometimes a president has to be willing to say no in order to say yes to you - has to say no to the specialist interest in order to say yes to the public interest. I know how to do that and I can say no to the special interest with a smile."
SUPER CAPTION: Al Gore, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate
Returning to his home state as a highly motivated campaign cheerleader, President Clinton made the case on Sunday for Al Gore and his White House bid.
Clinton clearly hoped his message on Gore's behalf would sway Arkansas voters and resonate with Americans nationwide.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Now here's what I want to tell you. This race is as tight as a tick. Here in this district, in this state and all over this country. There's 12 or 15 states that are within 2 points one way or the other and I'll tell you who's going to win. Who's gonna win is who wants to go bad enough."
SUPER CAPTION: Bill Clinton, US President
Meanwhile, George W. Bush travelled from one end of Florida to the other in a frantic effort to break the deadlock in the one state that may be the key to the entire election.
His latest stop was in Tampa, where he criticised the Vice President for not doing enough during his eight years in office.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We need a leader to bring Republicans and Democrats together to reform this important system but for eight years we ain't seen nothing yet. We got our military scattered all over the world morale is low. We need to rebuild morale, people in the military understand it, but for eight long years we ain't seen nothing yet. But let me tell you something, on November 7th we're gonna send this mission, we've seen enough - it's time for new leadership in Washington DC."
SUPER CAPTION: George W. Bush, Republican presidential candidate
Meanwhile in the nation's capital, Ralph Nader defended his presidential campaign
and said he won't stop urging people to vote according to their conscience - even if it hurts Al Gore.
Defiant and unapologetic, the Green Party candidate rejected criticism from Democrats who fear his campaign will help give the election to Republican George W. Bush by siphoning votes that otherwise would go to Vice President Gore.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Ralph Nader, Green Party presidential candidate

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