BARACK OBAMA

Democrat Barack Obama made one last push yesterday through the West, looking to secure victories in traditionally Republican Nevada and Colorado.

Obama held an outdoor rally in Henderson before flying to Pueblo, Colo., a heavily Hispanic city two hours south of Denver. He was to close the day with a late-night rally in Springfield, Mo.

In Pueblo, Obama made fun of Republican John McCain's winning the endorsement yesterday of Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I'd like to congratulate Senator McCain on this endorsement because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy. Senator McCain had to vote 90 percent of the time with George Bush and Dick Cheney to get it. He served as Washington's biggest cheerleader for going to war in Iraq, and supports economic policies that are no different from the last eight years."

Obama, in Henderson, Nev., continued to portray himself as a champion of the middle class and to tie McCain to President Bush's policies and the economic crisis. But he spoke less about policy specifics as he ramped up his hope-and-change rhetoric.

"We have the chance to do more than just beat back this kind of politics in this particular election," Obama said. "We can end it once and for all. . . . We can steer ourselves out of this crisis, with a new politics for a new time."

The presidential rivals also delivered their parties' respective weekly radio addresses yesterday, making their closing arguments.

Obama said that McCain "has served his country honorably. But when it comes to the economy, John McCain still can't tell the American people one major thing he'd do differently from George Bush. In this election, the biggest gamble we can take is embracing the same old Bush-McCain policies that have failed us for the last eight years."

Obama's running mate, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, campaigned yesterday in Indiana.

"We have to unite this country," Biden told about 1,600 people at a rally in Evansville.

Biden urged people to vote early, noting that they could do so after the rally at a nearby civic center.

Indiana has a record 4.5 million voters registered this year, and election officials have encouraged early voting to ease congestion at the polls on Election Day. As of Friday morning, more than 455,000 people had cast early ballots statewide, and Secretary of State Todd Rokita has predicted a record turnout for Election Day on Tuesday.

Appearing with Biden was one-time presidential hopeful and former Sen. Birch Bayh, who served for 18 years until he was beaten in 1980 by Dan Quayle.

Indiana hasn't backed a Democrat for president in 44 years, but Bayh and his son Evan, who is a former governor of the state and now a U.S. senator, are two of the state's most successful and popular Democrats.

At an outdoor rally in Evansville, Ind., the senior Bayh urged voters to turn out and reminded the audience of his first Senate race in 1962.

"Listen closely, please," Bayh said. "We won that election, but after all the votes were counted, the margin of victory was two votes per precinct. So let's take that lesson with you. Don't let anybody tell you that their votes don't make a difference."