My assignment in these last 24 hours before the election is to follow John McCain around. Or try to. It has been a blur of a day. My producers from "Nightline" and I arrived last night (Sunday) in Miami at just about midnight … just as John McCain was rallying a group of 5,000 or so of his supporters at the University of Miami. He was up. The crowd, mostly Latino, was up. When he declared, "The Mac is back !!" you couldn’t help but believe him. John McCain checked into the hotel well after 1:00 AM. 

Monday morning (was it only this morning??) began at 5:30 AM with the Secret Service sweep of the luggage and gear. We were in Tampa for a McCain rally by nine. The crowd was enthusiastic but on the small side. I must say it won’t look that way on television … the organizers had cleverly herded all the supporters into a corner of an enormous field across the street from the local stadium. It was hard not to think that Obama-size crowds have been filling stadiums like that one, but never mind. John McCain spoke briefly and powerfully and with humor. The stump speech – edited — according to my colleagues who have been traveling with him for months, is greatly improved in its shorter version. It certainly seemed to please the crowd. We were on the ground less than half an hour. 

The barnstorming went on for state after state — Florida to Tennessee to Pennsylvania to Indiana, to New Mexico and finally Nevada. Joe Biden held four rallies today.  Barack Obama did three. On his own, John McCain did seven. It was a bone-crunching pace, one that would have made a man half his age cry "uncle" — but McCain seemed to be having a ball. In this final full day before the election, the biting, angry John McCain seen so often on the attack had given way to the guy with a twinkle in his eye and steel in his spine. 

I had the chance to talk to Sen. McCain after the Pittsburgh rally. He said he still believed he could win. That he was down a "few points" (ABC News’ latest poll says he is down nine points) but that he had been underestimated before. If he was in the least tired, he didn’t show it. 

I will have a full report tonight on "Nightline." Check your local ABC listings.