The final stretch brings scrambling, gaffes

With just over one week left in a record-breaking presidential campaign, the candidates are scrambling to win every last vote.

In the past week, John McCain has worked to focus his message on the economy, using "Joe the plumber" as a metaphor for his concern about middle class America. He has also continued to slam Barack Obama's tax plans as "socialism" and "welfare."

Obama, who had to take a one-day detour from the campaign trail to visit is ailing grandmother in Hawaii, has largely stuck to his broad message that McCain would bring the same policies seen under President George Bush. At the same time, he has been placed on the defensive about his economic plans.

Here is a look back at this week, including some items you may have missed, and a look forward to the final week of intense campaigning.

Foot-in-Mouth Disease

Either coverage of these incidents is getting more intense or there is actually more to report, but both sides have suffered from a number of campaign trail gaffes recently.

The most prominent bungle came from Democratic running mate Joe Biden, who was recorded telling supporters that "it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama."

Biden made reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis with President John F. Kennedy, and said Obama winning would mean international leaders will want to see if the new president can be pushed around.

"The world is looking. We're going to have an international crisis ... to test the mettle of this guy," Biden said. "I guarantee you it's gonna happen."

McCain issued a new TV ad in response featuring pictures of tanks, armed terrorists, Iran's president and an angry Hugo Chavez as the Biden recording is played.

Meanwhile, at a North Carolina rally, McCain running mate Sarah Palin said she liked to visit "pro-America" parts of America, implying there were parts of the United States that didn't support the union.

Here is the entire quote: "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hardworking, very patriotic, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans: those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us, those who are protecting us in uniform, those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."

Biden pounced on that remark, blasting it in his stump speech in battleground states.

Ground Game

Polls can provide a good indication of where candidates stand with the voting public - polls have consistently shown Obama winning on Nov. 4 in the last few weeks - but in the end, it comes down to actual votes.

That is why both campaigns are now looking to their so-called "ground game" in the final days.

"This election is going to come down to our ground game," said Obama's battleground director Jen O'Malley on a recent conference call with reporters.

It will certainly be a fierce game. Political observers have largely praised Obama's get-out-the-vote efforts and credit them with his ability to sideline front-runner Hillary Clinton in the primaries.

Meanwhile, Republicans have long dominated the Election Day push, using intricate operations and a reliance on regular voting blocs to bring victory.

This time there is an added tweak, however, that affects both major parties.

Campaigns have had to work harder to get supporters to the polls for early voting in many states that didn't offer the option in 2004. So far, voters have turned out on both sides in droves, shattering records across the nation.

In Cook County alone, more than 100,000 people have voted early, more than double the last record set during the presidential primary.

Meanwhile, Illinois supporters for both McCain and Obama are being urged to help in nearby battleground states, including Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri and Iowa. The volunteers will walk precincts encouraging people to vote early, handing out literature promoting their candidate and providing polling locations.

Battleground plan

McCain has traded in the "Straight Talk Express" bus for a "Joe the Plumber" tour.

This week the Arizona Republican hit Colorado and Florida in a bus tour of mostly rural and suburban regions to drum up his base and sway the remaining undecideds.

His allegations about Obama's connections to former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers have largely faded to the background, left only to campaign phone calls in battleground states.

Instead, McCain has rejiggered his stump speech to focus on his plans for economic relief, his concern for the middle class and his fear that Obama represents a shift toward "socialism" and more "welfare."

At the same time, McCain is repeatedly bringing up the prospect of Democrats controlling Congress and the White House. Some analysts see such an argument appealing to independent voters.

"The answer to a slowing economy is not higher taxes, but that is exactly what is going to happen when the Democrats have total control of Washington," McCain told supporters in Colorado on Friday. "We can't let that happen."

It remained unclear this weekend whether his final push would focus on rallies in traditionally Republican states that Obama is pursuing or the tossup ones he also needs to win.

Obama's campaign has also kept the endgame close to the vest. This weekend, after visiting his grandmother in Hawaii, the Illinois Senator hit Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado.