LANCASTER, OHIO — Barack Obama and John McCain began to ease back their slashing attacks on one another Sunday, a sign that both presidential candidates will seek to end the long, bitter race on a positive note.
Obama, the Democratic nominee, drew more than 100,000 people to a chilly outdoor rally in front of the gold-domed Statehouse in Denver, and an additional 45,000 in frigid late-day temperatures in Fort Collins.
"We have always been at our best when we're called to look past our differences and to come together as one nation, leadership that rallied this country to a common purpose, to a higher purpose," Obama told the crowd in Denver.
McCain, the Republican nominee, stumped for votes before far smaller but enthusiastic audiences at three stops in rural Iowa and Ohio, states he calls "must-win" for his underdog campaign.
"I'm going to create wealth for all Americans by creating opportunity for all Americans," he vowed at a rally in Zanesville, Ohio.
Appearing earlier on NBC's "Meet the Press," McCain waved aside national polls that show him trailing far behind Obama, and insisted that he would stage an upset victory. He said the race had "closed" in the last week, and that he remained in striking distance.
"Obviously, I choose to trust my senses as well as the polls," the Arizona senator said. "I've been in a lot of presidential campaigns. I see the intensity out there. I see the passion. We're very competitive out there."
He added, "We're going to be up very, very late on election night."
But after a brutal week of sagging polls across the nation and small crowds in nearly every battleground state, McCain found little apparent encouragement in Cedar Falls, Iowa, his first stop of the day.
The latest statewide poll showed that Obama had widened his lead over McCain in Iowa to 15 points. And the state's largest-circulation newspaper, the Des Moines Register, endorsed Obama.
McCain's aides say he remains upbeat and intently focused despite such setbacks. They say he campaigns best as the underdog, and will fight until the last vote is cast.
But the campaign has taken on what sometimes seems a plaintive tone. When Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced McCain to 2,600 people at the University of Northern Iowa, he pleaded for support.
"We need you, we need you," he told the crowd. "John McCain needs your help. He deserves your help."
