"He said, 'I will not take the low road to the highest office in this land.' Those words were spoken eight years ago by my opponent, John McCain. But the high road didn't lead him to the White House then, so this time, he decided to take a different route," Obama said.
In a last-minute boost for Obama, another prominent Republican abandoned ship and endorsed the Illinois senator. Lobbyist Ken Durbersten, the former chief of staff to Ronald Reagan, announced his support for Obama Friday.
In another bold move, the Obama campaign announced that they were advertising in Georgia, North Dakota and McCain's home state of Arizona -- states that previously were uncompetitive for Democrats.
Friday's ABC News tracking poll had Obama with a nine-point lead over McCain. Despite the polls and last-minute endorsements, Obama was taking nothing for granted and urging voters to continue to fight.
"We can't afford to slow down, or sit back, or let up for one day, one minute or one second in this last week. Not now. Not when so much is at stake. We have to go ahead and bring it home. We have got to go win this election," Obama said.
The candidates' sprint to the finish line wouldn't be complete without last-minute appeals off the stump as well. McCain will appear as a guest on "Saturday Night Live," and both candidates will make final pleas to football fans in interviews with ESPN's Chris Berman to air during halftime on Monday Night Football.
McCain's guest appearance on SNL marks the second time this campaign season that he has appeared on the show, and comes on the heels of Palin's highly viewed debut on the program
On Sunday most Americans will set their clocks back for Daylight savings time. While many of us will enjoy the extra hour of sleep, both candidates will likely fill that hour in making their final case in the race for the White House.