As Voters Hit the Polls, Candidates Make Last-Minute Appeals

The Illinois senator said on NBC's "Today" show: "I don't think that today's going to end up being decisive, but I think it'll give you a good sense of who's connecting with the voters' concerns right now." He said polls showed tightening races in California, Massachusetts and Connecticut, where Clinton recently held double-digit leads.

"So the fact that we've made so much progress, I think, indicates that we've got the right message," he said. But in any case, "I suspect that we're probably going to see a split decision tonight." He dismissed concerns that the Republicans could benefit from a protracted battle between him and Clinton and said he was encouraged that in the first four nominating contests, Democrats "doubled their turnout from four years ago."

"And when I'm the nominee, I think, whether I'm going up against John McCain or Mitt Romney, they're going to have to defend George Bush's failed economic policies and failed foreign policy," Obama said. "And I will represent a clean break, taking the country in a new direction. That's a debate that I'm happy to have."

Clinton declined to specify any particular state that she needs to win today, telling an "Early Show" interviewer with a laugh, "I want as many as I can get."

She said in summing up her final pitch to voters: "Well, with two wars abroad and a recession looming, people need a president who is tested and ready on Day One to be the commander in chief, to turn the economy around and make it work for middle-class people, and to actually win in November. And I believe I offer all of that to voters."

She also said that among the remaining candidates, she has the only plan "that can actually move us toward universal health care." She touted her plans to address the nation's mortgage crisis, saying, "I have the experience to make the changes that we need."

McCain accused Romney on CBS of pouring "$10 million or so" into negative ads in California and said voters are figuring out that his rival "had a terrible record" as Massachusetts governor and is "not good on national security."

"My job is to convince everybody that . . . I'm the conservative candidate, I've got the record, and I can lead this nation in the struggle against radical Islamic extremism," he said on NBC's "Today" show. "I've got the knowledge, the background and the judgment."

The Arizona senator also defended himself against charges that he is hot-tempered and has alienated a number of GOP Senate colleagues, including one who called him "rough in the sandbox" and another who described him as "erratic" and "hot-headed." He said he has "very close relationships" with a number of current and former senators.

"But, look, do I get angry sometimes?" McCain asked rhetorically. "Should I get angry when there's a guy named [Jack] Abramoff that's ripping off Native American tribes of millions of dollars? Should I get angry when I see this pork-barrel spending that goes on? Should I get angry on behalf of my constituents when I see a $6 million rip-off on an airplane? Of course."

He continued: "I've never been elected Miss Congeniality because I've fought against these practices which have caused the American people to hold us in such low esteem."

Romney replied on CBS that he has run "only positive ads in California" and spent only $1.5 million on them. He charged that McCain is the one waging a negative campaign, and he said he was encouraged by his progress in California, where polls show him leading McCain.

"I think you had a lot of conservative voices on talk radio and print voices say: 'Look, we just can't have the party led by John McCain, who took us in such a sharp left turn. We've got to have a conservative, and Mitt Romney's the guy.' "

He added that if he were to win California, "that would say that the conservatives in our party are not at all comfortable with Senator McCain leading us."

In Charleston, W.Va., Romney suggested after attending the GOP state convention that that he would resist pressure to drop out of the race if McCain did better today in the national delegate count. Romney also sought to clarify comments interpreted as disparaging to unsuccessful 1996 GOP presidential nominee Robert J. Dole, who has defended McCain against conservative talk-show critics.

Romney said on the Fox News Channel yesterday that Dole was "probably the last person" he would want writing a letter to defend him. "I think there are a lot of folks who tend to think that maybe John McCain's race is a bit like Bob Dole's race. That it's the guy who's next in line, the inevitable choice." McCain accused Romney of "attacking a genuine American hero" and called on him to apologize.

Staff writers Rick Weiss, Glenn Kessler, Krissah Williams, Lyndsey Layton, Josh White, Spencer S. Hsu, Robert Barnes and Darryl Fears contributed to this report.