AFP Photo-Phoenix, AZ

PHOENIX—Holding her 6-month-old baby, Trig and wearing a blue “Alaska Grown” sweatshirt, Sarah Palin walked over to a few members of her press corps to answer some final questions before heading back to Wasilla, Alaska.

Palin reflected on her brief candidacy that attracted more attention at times than the presidential candidates and drew crowds double and triple the size of John McCain. She described the campaign as “entirely positive.”

Palin demurred when asked if she will be up next in 2012 saying it was too far off to start thinking about it and that she is just “anxious” to get back to the job of Alaska’s governor.

“Oh you know it seems like so far–2012 we will be enrolling him in Kindergarten,” referring to her son whom she was holding under one arm.

Palin then pointed to seven-year-old daughter Piper who had just come back from a swim and was standing next to her mom.

“She’ll be headed to what? About 5th grade, 6th grade by then. Those are my thoughts at this point is 2012 seeming a far way off today.”

The finger pointing started even before the GOP ticket abandoned their White House hopes last night between McCain and Palin staffers–some who blame John McCain’s loss on his running mate. But, Palin said she won’t get involved in the “pettiness” or the “negativity” and instead blamed it on “the nature of the beast” referring to politics.

“I don’t know what they’re saying or who they are but certainly if anything is based on any kind of anonymous source, I certainly won’t even comment on it.” Palin said, “But I have absolutely no intention of engaging in any of the negativity because this has been all positive for me for what I believe in, the values that I represent and the progress that I wanna see America be able to make. Just absolutely no time for the pettiness. “

Palin explained, “It’s kinda just the way I’m wired. I don’t have time for that.”

Instead of commenting on the in-fighting she had high praise for both the President-Elect, Barack Obama calling his win “an historic moment” and McCain labeling him a “uniter.”

“And though this chapter has closed now in the campaign, John McCain still has so much to offer this country and he as a leader now in the Senate, he as a uniter, I think that you’re going to see him in a leadership role, being able to work with the president elect in this transition period that’s going to be a very crucial time to show that ability to unite America,” Palin said.

Although Palin went after Obama on the campaign trail every day for two months, the former GOP Vice-Presidential candidate was effusive in her praise for the now President-Elect.

“This is an historic moment. Barack Obama has been elected president. Let us, let us—let him be able to kind of savor this moment, one, and not let the pettiness of maybe internal workings of the campaign erode any of the recognition of this historic moment that we’re in.” Palin said, “And God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family and the new administration coming in.”

She added, “America is going to reach her destiny” and then reflected on the first African-American being ascending to the American presidency.

“It says all good things about our country, and the progress that we have made and the barriers that have come down.” Palin said, “I couldn’t be more proud of where we are today, you know, this minority status now being kind of propelled to the forefront, that’s healthy.”

She said it was an “honor” to represent working women while on the stump and she intends on continuing to work on their behalf.

“And whatever happens for me in the future, especially in terms of being able to help progress the women’s movement also, I’m not gonna let women down. I’m gonna keep working hard.”

PHOENIX, AZ-Breaking news from FNC chief political correspondent Carl Cameron, who spoke to several senior McCain aides a little while ago who tell him ” that there is no path” to victory for John McCain now, after Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico have fallen into the Obama column. Cameron being told by insiders that more behind-the-scenes info will be revealed in the following days about the friction between the Palin camp and certain parts of the McCain camp, including Gov. Palin’s apparent refusal of interview prep before the infamous Katie Couric , and Charlie Gibson network interviews.

AP Photo-Wasilla, AK

WASILLA, ALASKA –-Sarah Palin cast her vote for herself after an all-night trek, which ended in her hometown. She strolled into her old stomping ground, the Wasilla City Hall council chambers where she served both on the city council and as mayor.

She walked in with husband Todd wearing jeans and a baggy brown sweatshirt with the words Gov. Sarah Palin embroidered across the right side. She hugged and kissed poll workers before spending just 97 seconds in the voting booth. She walked out and said, “Thank you!”

Donning an “I Voted Today!” sticker Palin calmly walked out in the frosty Alaska temperatures and expressed confidence that her ticket will be victorious today.

“Now tomorrow, I hope, I pray, I believe that I’ll be able to wake up as Vice President elect, and be able to get to work in a transition mode with the President-Elect, John McCain.” Palin said, “So anxious to get to work for the American people.”

Clearly happy to be home and around loved ones, she did betray just a hint of emotion at the ride that began in the building behind her when she was elected to the city council in 1992 and has lead her to be the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee. She called America “the land of possibilities and opportunities.”

“So we have a very optimistic, very confident view of what’s going to happen today, and again, so glad to get to be home in Wasilla, to cast this vote because forever I’m gonna be Sarah from Alaska and it’s an honor to get to be here with my friends and family,” Palin said.

The unruffled Alaska governor happily continued to take questions from the assembled press even as her staff tried to cut her off several times.

She acknowledged that no matter which ticket is victorious this evening that history will be made and either the first African –American will be elected the President of the United States or a woman will ascend to the Vice-Presidency.

“And I do recognize this is an historical event, no matter which ticket of course prevails, there too, it’s so well for the progress this country is making, and barriers of course being removed and glass ceilings being shattered, again, as the representation on both tickets will show,” Palin said.

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AP Photo

ELKO, NEVADA–Palin’s last campaign stop of her candidacy attracted a few thousand supporters to a late night rally in a high school gym here.

Flanked by her parents and in-laws, she thanked this small Nevada town–that is a frequent stop for the candidates–for spending the last moments of the campaign with her.

“It’s so good to be here in Elko.” Palin said, “So good to be here. This is our last stop on the campaign trail. It is our pleasure, our honor to get to share this historic moment with all of you–the last stop on this campaign trail.”

She took the opportunity of being in a basketball gym to compare her high school days when she was “Sarah Barracuda” to predict a come from behind win.

“Healthy good competition and victory is what we fight for. That’s what we are fightin’ for tomorrow!” Palin said, “And Todd and I both we have been in positions on basketball teams as being in the underdog, but kind of providential here maybe my senior year of high school I was a co-captain of our basketball team. We were the underdogs and we went on to win the state championships!”

Palin flies overnight from Elko to Anchorage, Alaska so she can vote in her hometown of Wasilla in the morning. She then turns right back around to fly to Phoenix to be with her running mate as the polls close and the finals results are tallied.
She told the cheering crowd that their enthusiasm will carry her through the night and into Election Day.

“Truly Elko thank you so much for comin’ out tonight.” Palin said, “Late night and just appreciatin’ so much that you would make this effort and this enthusiasm is overwhelming and this is what’s going to carry us through–through this night into tomorrow fighting for victory for all of you Elko and for all of America as we send John McCain to the White House!”

AP-Philadelphia, PA

PHILADELPHIA, PA — On the eve of what he and his running mate hope will be a big victory, Joe Biden took the stage with a man who just earned the biggest win of his professional life - World Series champion short stop Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Ready to celebrate one more time?” Rollins asked the crowd of 2,000 gathered for this late night rally in South Philly — which kicked off at 11:15 pm. “We took the curse off by winning a championship. Now it’s time to take the curse off America.”

Jill Biden, a huge Phillies fan who attended the series clinching game 5 at nearby Citizen’s Bank Park, took the microphone in a red Phillies jacket, whooping and waving a Phillies towel like she was in the audience. “One of the best nights of this campaign was watching the Phillies win the series. But with your help we can win another big victory tomorrow night!” she said, punctuating her remarks with a loud “Wooohoo!!”

“I feel good tonight, because you know. You know, things end well when you’ve got Jimmy Rollins leading off the batting order here tonight,” Biden said as he took the podium. But as he often does when talking baseball, the Delaware senator and self-proclaimed Phillies fan committed an error.

“If Barack Obama’s the Jimmy Rollins of the ticket, I feel like Jamie Moyer,” Biden said — referring to the 45 -year old game 3 starting pitcher. Biden, however, called him “The reliever.”

“A little bit older, you know what I mean? You know, but we make a hell of a team, I tell you.”

Aside from all the baseball analogies, Biden had a simple message for Pennsylvania, a state on which John McCain has placed much of his hope for an electoral upset.

“Pennsylvania is going to decide the next President of the United States of America. It’s gonna be Barack Obama,” Biden said to cheers.

Ridiculing McCain and Sarah Palin for calling themselves mavericks, Biden said “the sidekicks are gonna find out about Pennsylvania tomorrow. They’re gonna find out.”

AP Photo-Roswell, NM

ROSWELL, NM — As John McCain continued his 3,500 mile, seven city whirlwind journey across the nation in the final day of campaigning, he touted about an out of this world endorsement that he joked could bring him New Mexico’s five electoral votes.

“By the way I have been here to Roswell before and I know about the alien landing,” McCain told about 1,000 supporters gathered at an airport hangar here during his fifth rally of the day. “And I am pleased to announce that I have received the alien endorsement….and I am proud!”

UPDATE—Apparently McCain was actually endorsed by “the alien” per the Weekly World News. The alien has allegedly accurately predicted every election in the last 28 years. So McCain’s got that going for him, which is nice.

AP Photo-Dubuque, IA

Dubuque, IA–In front of two huge “Victory in Iowa” signs, Palin rallied a crowd of around 3,500 at an events center here. She expressed confidence for a win tomorrow telling supporters that her running mate is headed for victory.

“Appreciate you so much coming out today. End of a campaign trail that has been, especially for John McCain, many, many months in the making here.” Palin said, “Toward victory is where he’s headed, so Iowa, thank you so much for sharing these last hours with us.”

This was Palin’s third of six stops today and she is starting to get hoarse, but she stayed focused asking Iowans for their vote.

“Election Day is just– just a few hours until now people are going to start casting those votes. Election Day so close–the time for choosin’ is near. Iowa are you ready to help carry this state to victory? Are you ready to elect John McCain the next president of the United States? Are you ready to send us to Washington to shake thing up and get to work for you?” Palin asked.

Palin then veered off script trying a new line for the cheering crowd, “How about this too-how about we send an American hero on one more mission. Let’s send John McCain to the White House!”

Clad in jeans with her husband Todd by her side, Palin is the most expressive and intense on the stump than we have ever seen her as she goes from state to state today. Her next stop is a rally in Colorado Springs, CO, which will be both her fourth stop and fourth state today.

AP Photo-Zanesville, OH

ZANESVILLE, OH — Joe Biden thinks his reputation as the “gaffe” candidate is a bunch of malarkey.

Speaking to reporters on his press plane, BIden said the caricature of a VP nominee who’s always hurting the ticket by putting his foot in his mouth just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

“For all the stuff about gaffes, I don’t think there have been any real gaffes. I mean I don’t see anything in your polling data demonstrating any of that stuff you guys love to write about,” he said.

Biden has been ridiculed for minor slips, like telling an elected official to stand up and be recognized without realizing the man is in a wheelchair, to more substantive ones - such as seeming to oppose clean coal in a short rope line conversation, and telling a group of donors that Barack Obama will be “tested” by a generated international crisis within the first 6 months of his administration.

The Delaware Senator denied that any of his fumbles have hurt his party’s chances. “No, I never make any big, big gaffes,” he said. “I mean you guys love saying that about me but I tell you what, just look at the numbers. I don’t have any problem with what I’ve said and there’s nothing I’ve said that I would back off of.”

Biden’s foray to the back of the plane was his first since an off-the-record session on September 9th, which wound up becoming part of an on-the-record AP story. Biden cited that incident as one reason he’s been so reluctant to talk to his traveling press.

But with the election just a day away, the VP nominee addressed everything from uniting the country to his own superstitions about discussing the upcoming election

But Biden was most talkative on the topic of his “good friend” John McCain — first offering an explanation for why he feels the GOP nominee has gone so negative.

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AP- Lee's Summit, MO

LEE’S SUMMIT, MO — “Hey folks, 37 more hours!”

Joe Biden greeted a crowd primed for the home stretch of this long campaign with as much energy as he’s had in the last two months on the trail - telling voters in this swing state that “change is on the way.”

“I believe, with a greater degree of confidence than I’ve ever had before, that we are on the cusp of a new brand of American leadership. Because that’s what we need,” he said. “We need to get out and elect Barack Obama president of the United States tomorrow.”

Biden argued again that electing McCain would mean four more years of Bush policies — but as is always the case with the Delaware Senator, a routine line delivered hundreds of times on the trail can still be an adventure. “In the most recent debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, John McCain felt the need to say to Barack, to the commentator and to all America that he was not John McCain,” Biden said in a slip-up. “I mean, he was not President Bush.”

As the crowd guffawed, Biden salvaged the line. “The truth is, he’s not the John McCain I served with a long time,” he said. “Freudian slip.”

Less salvageable? The now-expected “Random Biden Introductory Tangent” - this one about his sister, Val, his wife Jill, and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who introduced the Bidens today.

“You know why I think Jill likes Claire McCaskill so well, Senator McCaskill. Jill is one of five sisters, Claire is one of three sisters. And I tell you what, you women raised with sisters are different than women raised with brothers,” Biden said as both women joined him on stage.

“My sister is smart, runs every one of my campaigns, is beautiful. Graduated with honors from college. Is homecoming queen, but she’s a — she is what I call a girl-boy growing up, you know what I mean?”

“And I tell you what. Girl-girl’s are tougher than girl-boys,” he said.

BIden is off for the working class Ohio towns of Zanesville and Akron, where Obama leads in recent polls by an average of about 4 points.

AP Photo-Columbus, OH

COLUMBUS, OH – Standing in front of a barn facade with the words “Victory in Ohio” emblazoned across it, Sarah Palin expressed her confidence for an underdog win Tuesday.

She praised her running mate’s performance last night on Saturday Night Live and had a message for her look-alike on the show.

“Now speaking of great performances, did anyone catch John McCain last night on SNL—Saturday Night Live?” Palin asked in an airplane hangar rally.

“He was such a pro in those skits there with Tina Fey. And little advice for Tina, we want her to make sure that she’s holding on to that Sarah outfit because she’s gonna need it in the next four years.”