'Twas the night before Election Day

Nov. 3, 2008— -- The first polls opening at 6am ET on Tuesday and everything wraps up when the last voter casts a ballot in Alaska at 1am ET.

With all the talk and analysis of an expanded battleground map (which certainly played out), it is interesting to note that when it came to events, the Obama and McCain campaigns kept returning to those oldies but goodies – Ohio and Florida.

Ohio was the state with the most candidate campaign events this cycle – a grand total of 143 since March per the ABC News candidate tracker. Florida is next with 113 events followed by Pennsylvania with 101 events.

Obama and Biden held a combined 61 events in the Buckeye State (38 since June for Obama, 23 since the Democratic convention for Biden). McCain and Palin held 82 events there (50 since March for McCain, 32 since the Republican convention for Palin).

Keys to Ohio No Republican has won the White House without winning the Buckeye State and the state has gone to the eventual winner in the last 11 presidential elections.This year, the economy is driving voter preferences and polls show a tight race but a political environment that is favoring the Democrats and Barack Obama.

Cuyahoga County is Obama's stronghold, with the heavily Democratic Cleveland metropolis is ripe with voters for Obama, but the northeastern part of the state is where Obama's advantage may be more critical. Polls have shown Obama holding a double digit margin in the northeastern corner – an area that Kerry won by just five points.

Democrats say Obama can win the state if he builds on the Kerry margins in the traditionally Democratic strongholds in the state (Cleveland, Columbus, Athens, Akron, Toledo) and follows a similar road map that Strickland and Brown charted in 2006 in the Republican strongholds (southeastern and southwestern Ohio). The key is to "lose better" than Kerry did in exurban and rural counties while maintaining the strong support he had in urban centers like Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus.

McCain will look to shore up support in southeastern Ohio – Ted Strickland country. There are many white, working class voters there - and they supported Clinton over Obama in the primary. Stark County (Canton) and Franklin County (Columbus) are two key counties to watch. Both candidates will make concerted efforts to win these counties and drive up their turnout, especially in the large college town of Columbus (home to The Ohio State University Buckeyes and its 50,000+ students).

Democratic and Republican officials in Ohio say to keep an eye on the southwestern corner of the state where there could be a pocket of new Democratic voters who are upper middle class, more educated, and new to the state. This corner is traditionally Republican – Bush won the 3 counties that border Hamilton County (Cincinnati) by over 65 percent.

Keys to Florida In the past 4 statewide elections, 25% of the vote in Florida has came from the Tampa and Orlando media markets -- and it's one of the richest places in the state for persuadable voters, strategists say. Tampa Bay, Orlando and Daytona Beach are the cities that run through that area, comprising what is known as the I-4 corridor. Florida Republicans say the area holds the key to victory for McCain in November. Obama, meanwhile, wants to take the area, while also running up the score in the Democratic stronghold of South Florida.

The western most part of the state, or the 16 counties that make up the Florida Panhandle, will also be key, Republican and Democratic operatives say. The big cities in the Panhandle are Tallahassee, Pensacola and Panama City.

Watch the numbers in the heavily Republican areas of Polk, Seminole, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties verses the Democratic strongholds of Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Democrats lead Republicans 45.6 to 37.3 percent in the total early ballots cast (in person and absentee). Over 4.3 million Floridians have already voted, per ABC News' Tahman Bradley, compared to 2.7 million total early votes in 2004.

ABC News/Washington Post Election Eve tracking poll Per ABC News Polling Director Gary Langer: "Barack Obama has ridden his theme of change to a clear advantage in the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign, his lead in overall vote preference buttressed by his personal and policy ratings alike – and above all his trust to handle the battered economy."

Obama leads McCain 53-44 in the tracking poll – "strong in the center and even encroaching on some Republican-leaning groups. Obama trails by 7 points among whites, for example – a group John Kerry lost by 17. That's because among whites focused most strongly on the economy, Obama leads."

On the campaign front. . .

JOHN McCAIN
-- 4:45 pm ET: Holds Rally in Grand Junction, CO.

SARAH PALIN -- Votes in Alaska
-- Holds Election Night Rally with John McCain in Phoenix, AZ.

BARACK OBAMA
-- Campaign Visit in Indianapolis, IN.
-- Holds Election Night Rally in Chicago, IL.

JOE BIDEN -- Votes in Delaware
-- Holds Election Night Rally with Barack Obama in Chicago, IL.

POLITICAL NEWS STORIES ON ABCNEWS.COM

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos: Guide to Election Night: Six Early States to Watch LINK

ABC News' Gary Langer: Daily Tracking Poll: Not Just Economy and Bush; Palin Is Trouble for McCain Too LINK

ABC News: Voter 101: What You Need to Know on Election Day LINK

ABC News' Justin Rood: Will a Loss Sic 'Pit Bull' Palin on Critics? LINK

ABC News' Teddy Davis: Obama: 'Brothers Should Pull Up Their Pants' LINK

ABC News' Rigel Anderson: Battlegrounds Weather Report LINK

ABC News' Ron Claiborne: McCain to Campaign on Election Day LINK

ABC News' Jake Tapper: A Nostalgic Moment for Obama in Jaxville LINK

ABC News' Jake Tapper: Former IRI Chair Defends Khalidi LINK

ABC News' Jake Tapper: Obama Calls Higher Income Taxes the Wealthy Will Pay Under His Plan 'Chump Change' LINK

POLITICAL VIDEO ON ABCNEWS.COM

Flops, Flubs and Follies From the Trail
A look back at the gaffes and funnies made along the road to the '08 White House. LINK

George's 'View' of the Election
Stephanopoulos gives the ladies his take on the presidential election. LINK

Palin Attacks Obama on Coal
Palin jabs Obama in coal country Ohio for comments made to the SF Chroncile. LINK

Live from Obama's Jacksonville Rally
Jake Tapper video blogs from Obama's Florida rally 24 hours from election day. LINK

Opening Night for 'Obama the Musical'
Actors portray the presidential contenders in this play that debuted in Kenya. LINK

Singing to a Bipartisan Beat
Students of the Ron Clark Academy perform "You Can Vote However You Like." LINK

The Kiddie Cabinet
This group of kids give their opinions on the presidential election. LINK

Throw Down in Missouri
A new poll shows Barack Obama up by one point in this battleground state. LINK

Peggy Noonan, Mathew Dowd and Donna Brazile opine on the election. LINK

Voting 101
Get answers to your Election Day questions. LINK

The Bottom Line on Getting to the White House
George Stephanopoulos explains which states the candidates need to win. LINK

Last Look at the Obama Camp
Caroline Kennedy talks about the state of the campaign. LINK

Last Look at the McCain Camp
Mitt Romney weighs in on the campaign. LINK

Jake Tapper on the Final Push
The candidates are neck and neck in the key battleground states. LINK

Last Election Moments
The McCain camp has fun while trying to make a comeback. LINK

Wives on the Trail
Cindy McCain and Michelle Obama have made appearances along the trail. LINK

The Path to 270
McCain campaign manager on strategy for stacking up electoral votes. LINK

Axelrod on Early Voting Edge
Obama senior strategist talks about the campaign's final days. LINK

Roundtable Predictions
Will, Dowd, Brazile, Halperin predict Tuesday's results. LINK

Campaign in 3 Minutes
John Berman sums up the campaign in just three minutes. LINK