Candidates Making Final Push to Break Out

Allen used football analogies to describe his fight against Webb. "We're focused," Allen said. "In football you learn that if you get knocked down, you get back up."

Hundreds of miles away, Webb sounded increasingly confident as he hammered his campaign themes of creating a diplomatic solution to the Iraq war, bridging the gap between the rich and poor, raising the minimum wage, closing corporate tax loopholes and fighting for fair trade.

"You have given your loyalty, and you will have my loyalty, and I will work to bring fairness back to the economic system," Webb told about 150 supporters in Grundy, including dozens of current and retired coal miners.

Kerrey, who like Webb is a Vietnam War combat veteran, told the crowd that Webb "will put the law on the side of wages, health benefits and pensions."

"Jim has never forgotten it's important to live by those three words: family, honor, country," Kerrey said. "It's not phony for him."

In Big Stone Gap, Webb also sharpened his critique of Bush's policies and predicted the White House will face aggressive questions from a Democratic Congress.

"If you all help us, if we get out the word, on Wednesday morning the White House is going to wake up, and they are going to look out over the Capitol building and say, 'We've got a problem,' " Webb said.

In Maryland, O'Malley said he hoped the Clinton rally and an ad featuring the former president would help counter months of attacks on his record.

"With the Republican Governors Association coming in and spending all that money, going negative and trashing a record of accomplishment in Baltimore, it's nice to have someone who's known and respected come in and tell it like it is," O'Malley said.

Both races in Maryland could hinge on turnout in Prince George's -- a point several speakers tried to drive home at last night's rally.

"It's not about strategy anymore," Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) told a racially diverse crowd waving O'Malley and Cardin placards. "It's about your heart. Do you want this victory more than they want it?"

In Maryland's Senate race, Steele made time Sunday for an interview on Fox News, in which he continued to present himself as a populist, in touch with "real life" and independent of both parties.

When asked by host Chris Wallace why blacks in Maryland should vote Republican when the balance of power in the Senate is at stake, Steele said, "I'm not asking them to vote Republican."

"I've not come to them as a Republican or a Democrat, as an African American or anything other than who I am," Steele said from the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden. "Someone who believes in public service, who wants to go to Washington to try his best to make a difference in a town that has forgotten where people live and how they live."

Cardin and his wife, Myrna, traversed Prince George's yesterday morning, attending services at three African American churches.

Later in the day, he spoke at a Potomac synagogue before heading back to Prince George's to pump up volunteers at a VFW hall and to meet up with Clinton and O'Malley.

In the District, candidates for the competitive race for the Ward 6 seat on the D.C. Council concentrated most of their efforts in and around Capitol Hill, where turnout is usually high on Election Day.

Democratic nominee Tommy Wells hit the church circuit, knocked on doors and held a rally with volunteers. Will Cobb, who is running as an independent, met voters outside Eastern Market in the morning. Republican nominee Tony Williams could not be reached for comment.

Staff writers Ann E. Marimow, Chris L. Jenkins, Lisa Rein, Tim Craig, David Nakamura and Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.