Obama votes as people line up to cast ballots

Obama arrived at his precinct in Chicago shortly after 7:30 CST Tuesday. His wife, Michelle, and their young daughters accompanied him as he received a ballot and went to a polling station. The Obamas stood side by side and their daughters looked on as they read their ballots.

McCain planned events in Colorado and New Mexico, then a party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.

"I think these battleground states have now closed up, almost all of them, and I believe there‘s a good scenario where we can win," McCain told CBS‘ "The Early Show" in an interview broadcast as the day‘s first voters stood in early-morning lines.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said he was confident that new voters and young voters would fuel an enormous turnout to benefit the Illinois senator.

Standing in line in one of the battleground states, Ahmed Bowling of Alexandria, Va., said the election "will mark a significant change in the lives of all Americans, and so we do have to come out as early as possible to cast our votes."

"Obama is the man," said Kevin, who is black. "His message and his vision has reached a lot of people, not just African-Americans."

"I‘m feeling kind of fired up. I‘m feeling like I‘m ready to go," Obama told nearly 100,000 people gathered for his final rally Monday night in Virginia.

The Illinois senator‘s final day of campaigning was bittersweet: He was mourning the loss of his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise him. She died of cancer Sunday night, never to see the results of the historic election.

"This momentum, this enthusiasm convinces me we‘re going to win tomorrow," McCain told a raucous evening rally in Henderson, Nev. It was the fifth campaign stop in an 18-hour odyssey that took him across three time zones.

Obama planned a quick campaign stop in Indiana on Election Day before a massive outdoor rally in front of the skyline in his adopted hometown of Chicago. The day‘s forecast was for an unseasonably warm 70 degrees.

McCain planned events in Colorado and New Mexico, then a party at the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix.

Obama urged his supporters to resist overconfidence. "Even if it rains tomorrow, you can‘t let that stop you. You‘ve got to wait in line. You‘ve got to vote," he said.

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Beth Fouhy reported from Phoenix.



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